


Carry Me Home

by Raelae



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-08-19 11:55:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8205940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raelae/pseuds/Raelae
Summary: After the events in Salt Lake City, Joel and Ellie return to Tommy's settlement. For two years they live in relative peace, until Joel finally works up the nerve to tell Ellie just what really happened at the hospital with the Fireflies. Ellie's reaction is to be expected, and leads them both into a whole mess of trouble.





	1. Chapter 1

The one thing you notice as you get older, is that time waits for no one. The older you get, the faster time seems to wiz by.

It appears less evident in a world filled with fear and death though, as each day blurs into the next and the only sign of the passage of time is the changing weather and the wrinkles in the skin.

Even with these subtle hints though, time still seems to stand still for most. Time hardly matters when each day is just a struggle to survive to the next, with nothing else to look forward to. In an apocalyptic world, Holidays don't exist, though some still try to celebrate in their own way, trying to keep some sort of semblance of normality...of humanity.

But most find little need for it. Most are just happy to fill their growling stomachs each day, or to go to sleep knowing they managed another day without being infected.

Joel on the other hand was more like a well oiled machine, doing the same actions every day, waiting to see what cog or gear would give first. He had honestly been surprised to survive as long as he had, even more surprised that he risked letting people into his life. Though, Tess honestly was the only one he let that close to himself. Other than his brother Tommy, she was the only other person to know about Sarah.

And she saw right through him that fateful day that Marlene stumbled on them, when she handed Ellie off to them. He just played off not wanting to be involved with a dead end possibility for a cure. But Tess knew. She knew Ellie was around the age Sarah had been when she died, knew he didn't want to risk being around the girl. After all, under all that gruff exterior...lay a man in torment. A man who didn't want to risk getting hurt again. He already gave in once with Tess, so the chances of a broken father starting to feel for a girl alone in the world...was a pretty good possibility.

It had been his fear, and rightly so. He crossed the country with that girl and there wasn't a part of him that wouldn't risk his life for her, that wouldn't beat a person to a bloody pulp to ensure her safety. And he had done all those things. He left a trail of bodies in his wake, all to protect her. His baby girl.

 

And what was the first thing he did when all was said and done? Lie to her. Took all that trust she had put into him and shoved it out the window. And it wasn't even entirely for her own good, but for his. He knew what he was doing when he laid waste to the people at the hospital in Salt Lake, what he was doing it all for. Fuck the human race. He wasn't going to let another little girl die under his watch, he wasn't going to lose another person he had come to care deeply for.  
After the winter, he could no longer deny that she had become special to him, that she had become another daughter to him. It was pain and greed and sadness that pushed him. A need to make sure Ellie had a future, the best one she could in this fucked up world anyway.

But even as they made their way back to Tommy's settlement, even after his little brother once more embraced and welcomed him, he still wasn't content. That look she had given him, the sound of her voice when she gave the one word answer to his lie...unsettled him. She was a smart girl, a girl that knew bullshit when she saw it. She'd called him out on it enough times after all. She knew his lie, the question was how was she going to respond to it?

Right now it just seemed to be an awkward silence, the one another gives you when they're trying to decide just how much leeway they're willing to give you. How willing they are to forgive you, or to tell you to go fuck yourself.

And that...is one of the worst feelings in the world. Because he knew in the meantime, while she tried to make up her mind, she'd put on a facade. He wouldn't know when she was acting and when she was truly being herself. Wouldn't know for sure when the moment would come for her to call him out, or what would happen when she did.

He could of course grow a pair and just lay it out there right away, tell her what really happened and why he had to do it. But he was just so afraid of losing her, afraid to find out what she thought of him now. If she saw him in a different light...as a monster.

So he chickened out and bit his tongue, knowing damn well this was probably one of the worst decisions he could make.  
So instead he stayed silent, faked a smile for his little brother, and followed as Tommy showed him around the settlement.

Tommy pointed out the more public areas of the settlement, where the stables were, where their communal hall was. Even to an area they had set up for gardening, though where they had managed to find seed Joel didn't know. But they seemed to have a good system going, having a good amount set for eating and another for replanting the following season.

Then there was that shed set off in a corner where they did their butchering after hunts, and where they scaled and cured fish. It was settled into a corner off the settlement, away from the homes and communal areas. Most likely so the smell of death didn't permeate around peoples households. 

That had been Tommy's decision, something he decided once they started gathering up livestock and more butchering was being done. This settlement was filled with traumatized kids and more than a few adults. Even if it was animal blood, the smell still set off some peoples nerves. Thus, a new slaughterhouse was built a good distance away.  
Leave it up to Tommy to be the considerate one. That's why Tommy was never great as a hunter, or a Firefly, it hurt him to destroy people's lives. Joel was starting to realize how fit for the position his little brother was here. He was better at giving hope rather than taking it away. Years back Joel would have scoffed at that but, with his changing heart, he could accept that now. And he was starting to feel really shitty for pushing Tommy into a role he hadn't wanted.

Not long after showing them the gardens and slaughter house, Tommy lead them back towards the center of the settlement, back towards the housing. He pointed out an empty house to them, one that was theirs if they wanted it. Clearly Tommy still wasn't sure if Joel was really going to stay or not.

But honestly Joel was tired, feeling his age, and not wanting to drag Ellie around anymore. And judging by the look on her face, which was bright for the first time in a long time, there was no argument to be had here. This was home.

He gave his brother a good hearted pat on the shoulder as he thanked him for it. Tommy did look pretty surprised at the action, proving to Joel he'd been right about his assumption.

Tommy was about to show them in, but Ellie was well ahead of them. She bounded up the four steps that lead up to the front porch and threw open the door before anyone had a chance to respond. Joel only shook his head, slightly relieved that she could still be herself at times.

They followed her in not long after but she had long disappeared from sight, having already made her way into the kitchen.

Tommy chuckled and made some sort of response that Joel didn't quite catch, he was too busy looking around the place himself. It was a good size, but not too large, perfect for just two people. The front room was a pretty good size, enough to maybe squeeze about four people in without bumping into each other too much. The floor was all wood and seemed to flow throughout, straight on into the kitchen.  
There was a ragged couch and an equally ragged recliner set up there, along with a coffee table and an older style TV. He thought it an odd edition till he remembered Tommy mentioning the kids getting to watch movies before they left for the University. He'd assumed maybe they had a public area set up for viewing but, now he understood that each house had it's own TV so people could just watch what they wanted. That was proven so when he saw both a DVD player and a VCR settled on a shelf beneath it.

“Joel! Get in here!”

Joel chuckled at Ellie's excited voice, happy to at least get these small moments of cheeriness from her. 

“I'm coming, I'm coming. Hold your horses kiddo.”

When he entered the kitchen he found her looking through cabinet doors, checking out all the storage space there was. Joel found it kind of odd that that excited her but, for her this was a rare moment of normal before the world went to hell. Of seeing things in a fairly good condition compared to the abandoned homes and other buildings they had become accustomed to on the road.

“I'll have your ration of food stuffs sent around once you're all settled in here.”

Tommy said, watching in amusement at Ellie's reactions. His amusement turned to all out laughter as Ellie started going on a mile a minute about the chores she was and was not going to do in here.

“Hold it a second...” Joel said as he noticed something black over her shoulder on the counter. He made his way over, ignoring the snicker he could hear his brother throwing at him from behind.

In front of him sat a simple kitchen appliance, but one that quite literally warmed his heart to the core.

“Coffee maker? There's a coffee maker here?”

Tommy chuckled as he nodded, crossing his arms. 

“Seems the military was holding a whole lot more than they were letting on. They had quite a stock of coffee beans, among other things. We found a convoy sometime back, abandoned. Looks like they ran into a heap of trouble, from the bandits most likely. There were infected lying around too so, can only assume they got attracted by the gunfire and all hell broke loose. Long story short, Christmas came early. Got a buddy, Lyle, he's working on figuring a good way to get a bean crop to grow good here. Looks like it's you're lucky day big brother.”

Joel was ecstatic, Ellie was nonplussed. “I still don't get what the big deal is with coffee.”

“It's an adult thing.” Tommy answered. “Something most kids think is a bit too bitter, so, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Till you're older anyway.”

“Pfft. Think I couldn't handle it?”

“Didn't say you couldn't handle it, just saying you wouldn't like it.”

Joel watched quietly as the two interacted. Ellie didn't have that much to do with him the last time they were there, seeing as everything went down the shitter masterfully not long after getting there. But they seemed to be getting along quite well.

He left them to chat away as he finished the walk through on his own. The kitchen was workable, big enough for multiple people to work in comfortably. There was a fridge and a stove off on the other side of the room, as well as what seemed to be a small storage area to the back, or maybe a small pantry? He wasn't all that sure, but storage seemed about right to use it for. The center of the room had a wooden table with four chairs, all of which was made out of salvaged wood. Rustic, he liked that.

He made his way back to the living room and turned to make his way up the stairs. They too looked to be made of salvaged material, while other parts looked fresher. He assumed that the buildings in the settlement were a mixture of trees procured from the surrounding area, homes that were already there, and wood taken from buildings in a nearby abandoned town. It worked quite well actually.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he stood at the start of a narrow hallway. It was just wide enough for two people, space saver he supposed. Down the hall were three doors and he made his way to the first, opening the door and finding a bedroom set up within. Nothing too over the top, a salvaged bed, homemade wardrobe, and a nightstand with a small lamp on it. He realized now just how much work was put into all this. Not just getting all the homes built, and good homes at that, but somehow wiring was laid out in each of the ones newly built. He could only imagine that they took every bit of wiring from the walls in the town down the valley, it was the only thing he could think of.

He shook the thought from his mind and continued down the hall, finding the other bedroom, equal in size and in furniture. Good. Meant he and Ellie wouldn't have to fight over rooms.

The last door...held a bathroom. An actual fucking bathroom. Electricity and full out plumbing. He could really get to liking it here.

He walked into the small bathroom which consisted of a single sink, a toilet, and one of those old claw tubs. He'd never been into bathing in his early days, but after all these years with his aching limbs, it was like heaven on earth.

“There you are.” Ellie said as she entered the bathroom. “Tommy went to get the foo...”

She didn't even finish her sentence as the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

“No shit! A real fucking bathroom? A working bathroom?” 

She ran over to the sink and turned the knob, watching with glee as clear water poured from the faucet.

“Fucking right!”

Joel shook his head as she marveled at the water, watching as she ran her hands under the faucet and splashed her face. In this world even the smallest of things were miracles in and of themselves.

“Alright kiddo. Only use it when needed alright?”

“Yeah yeah.” She said as she shut the water off. “I already claimed the bedroom across the hall.” She pointed her thumb over her shoulder, indicating the door just behind her.

He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Both the same regardless, so I reckon it don't matter much.”

“Yeah it does, cause this ones right across from the bathroom.”

He chuckled a bit and admitted defeat. “Got your stuff all settled in your room then?”

“Not like there's much stuff to settle, just tossed my bag on the bed.”

“Least take the clothes out and hang it up, we don't have to live much like travelers no more...or for the time being anyway.”

“...we're not planning on leaving are we?”

“No. But just cause we're here don't mean we let our guard down. You never know if we're gonna have to quit this place in an emergency.”

“Got it.” She turned and headed back to the open door across the hall, her voice once more taking on that tone.

“...Ellie? You uh...you sure you're alright?”

“Yeah, I'm good.” She said without even looking at him. Moments later she was in her room, her door shutting behind her.

He sighed and let his arms drop to his sides, having that sinking feeling creep into the pit of his stomach. The one that told him this was going to be a common occurrence, short conversations and her holing herself up in her room.

It wasn't something he was used to. Sarah hadn't really been like that after all. If she had problems he'd learn about it, she wasn't much for keeping things from him after all. He was the one with that problem. He always kept things inside, let the stress turn him into a grumpy mess of a man. Sarah used to always say he aged well before his time, calling him old man before he was even near being an old man. What was it people had liked to call that? Having an old soul or something?

Whatever, it didn't matter anyway. This time he really was getting old, and his body was most likely going to be the first thing to tell him to fuck off. He was gonna be a useless sack of wrinkles before he knew it, and that scared him as much as anything. Mostly cause he wouldn't be able to protect Ellie as well anymore. She still had a lot to learn to survive in this world, and he wasn't even sure she'd care to listen to him anymore.

He ran his hand down his face, lingering at his chin before dropping it to his side again. It was just something he was going to have to deal with when it came along. Right now, they had to find their place in this new life.

He made his way out of the bathroom, stopping only for a moment to drop his bag off on the bed before heading for the stairs, completely ignoring what he had just told Ellie to do, put clothes away.

He didn't hear the slight creek of the door behind him as Ellie peeked out from the slight crack in her door, didn't see the hurt glint in those battle hardened eyes. For now it was just going to be a game between them, to see just who would be brave enough to bring up the lie first, to face it. The toughest battle of all, were the ones where love and hate mixed in a perilous dance.

 

Two Years Later

 

Ellie ran her arm across her brow, wiping away the bit of sweat that had beaded there. It wasn't a hot day by any means, in fact fall was starting to slowly creep it's way in, slowly changing the colors of the leaves around them.

No, not hot at all, but it had been a long day. In a random occurrence of events, some bored kids decided to let the latches on the horse stalls loose, causing the horses to roam freely about the town. Not really that big of a deal. Problem came from the horses getting spooked by two guys that got a bit rowdy with each other, and the fact that a new guy on the wall didn't check the gate properly when the hunting party went out.

Horses ended up bolting right out the gate, causing people to scramble for rope and whatever horses were left to go round them back up. It took most the afternoon, and at least two were still missing. The newbie on the wall was moved, as it was considered he wasn't yet ready for that position, and the kids ended up on potato duty in the kitchen for a week.

What a fucking day.

With a sigh, Ellie finished putting the rest of the tack away before making her way out, securing the door behind her. She was tired and still quite a bit pissed at the kids, her favorite horse was one of the ones still lost out there after all. A beautiful black one with a small white patch on his forehead. Joel had said it looked like a horse from a book called Black Beauty. She didn't give a shit though, she still called him Callus the second, or just plain C2. Joel was very unamused. But again, she didn't care.

She loved Joel to death, she really did. He had indeed become the father figure that she had always wanted...needed. Though she still never called him dad or anything. Some part of her still felt that to be a bit weird. She wasn't sure why though. Maybe it was because of Sarah, not wanting to replace her memory or something. But another part because she was still hurt by his lie, even two years on, he still hadn't said anything to her, avoiding it like he avoided most other things.

He was more open about Sarah, though she could understand that. Him taking her in like he did caused him to have to face that moment in time. But he still didn't mention Sam or Henry, and especially not Tess.

She understood by this point that a whole lot more likely had been going on between him and Tess, something that would have been plainly evident back at the capital building. You know, if she'd been a bit older and the bite and the soldiers hadn't gotten in the way. Joel seemed to have no problem at the time to just get rid of Ellie and just head back. But Tess...even with a bite, and knowing she was going to turn...he refused to leave her. He wanted to stay and fight even though he knew it was futile. At best...he would have had to shoot her himself...like she had had to shoot Riley...She felt he would have been a much more broken man if he would have had to do that.

Neither of them wanted to leave Tess in the end, but they had to. And even after all that, after what Ellie for some time blamed herself for...Joel chose to take her in, to protect her with his life. Make her family.

...and then outright lie to her. Honestly she thought after two years she'd have shrugged all this off, but she couldn't. She just wanted to know what happened, why he couldn't tell her. He had to of had a reason to lie to her. He had to of. At least...that's what she hoped.

She sighed deeply, ending it with a slight low growl as she rubbed the sleeve of her red flannel. It was a nervous tick now, like with Joel's constant need to touch his broken watch. She'd run her hand over the spot on her arm where the bite lay hidden when she was nervous or upset in some way. It was constant even more these days as she grew more irritated with Joel. If he wasn't going to talk, then maybe it was time she did the talking.

She glanced down the street as people moved about in front of her. It was a busy time of year after all with winter making it's way in. People were busy getting things prepared, making sure there was enough firewood for the inevitable power outages, storing up food goods, making repairs on homes to keep the weather out.

And as she looked around her even more, she noticed the number of people on the wall had more than doubled. It was the time of year to make repairs to that as well. Winter was not the easiest time of year to have to be out in the elements making repairs, especially to the wall. It was dangerous to be caught outside twisted in god knows what kind of materials, in snow drifts that could go high as a man or deeper in some places. Trying to work in those conditions with bandits and infected roaming about. Getting stuck in a snow drift was a death wish.

Sure, the infected did get slowed considerably during the winter, the snow drifts making it just as hard for them to move, but they were still there, and still dangerous. And the bandits had a tendency to snipe from a distance, almost as though it was some sick sort of game.  
Attacks came far less in the winter, as again, movement on both sides were limited, but it still wasn't safe.

And that at the moment, was Joel's job. She could see him moving along the wall with Tommy at his side, inspecting various spots on the wall for weaknesses. This would be his job every fall really, since he had the experience with construction in the past. And when he wasn't doing that, he would pull guard duty on the wall and go out on hunts from time to time. He was part of the 'other' hunting group though. They tracked infected and bandits, not deer. Some things just never changed she guessed.

But some things did, and in ways that scared her. Joel was tired all the time, and though one could attribute that to age, she knew it wasn't. Sure he'd complain about his aching back or groan when his knees popped, but he was far from becoming immobile. He was stressed out and it was starting to physically affect him. She in no way believed it had anything to do with the events of the world around them, Joel had handled that well enough over twenty years. She did have a feeling though that it had something to do with that gray zone between them, what he was hiding.

Wasn't just his movements that changed, the chin of his beard was stark silver now, with a bit more speckled throughout, but not enough that you'd notice like you could on his chin. Again, most would point to age. But she knew better, and she was sure Tommy did too. She could see it in his eyes.

She huffed, still rubbing her arm as she made her way down the street, towards home. She needed time to think away from all the eyes of the town.

 

She hadn't gone unnoticed by Joel though. He had seen her out of the corner of his eye, seen her looking up at him and rubbing at her arm nervously. It hurt him, seeing her like that. It hurt, and it was wearing on him. It wasn't just what he wasn't telling her though, it was what he wasn't telling everyone. As far as most were concerned, Ellie had a skin condition and needed to mostly stay covered from the sun. The only other person that knew besides himself, Tommy and Maria, was the town physician. Kids get sick after all and the doctor needed to know the situation. But they still had to hide it from everyone else. If they found out they might kill her, or maybe even snatch her away and hand her off to whoever to get the cure made. If there was anyone left anyway, after Salt Lake, he wasn't even sure there were Fireflies anymore.

“Joel? Hey? I'm talking to you.”

“Hm? What?”

He slowly turned his head to regard his brother, his eyes still looking hazy, as if he hadn't fully emerged from his thoughts yet.

“...think we need to talk.”

“I'm fine Tommy.”

“No more big brother bullshit, move it.” He gave him a light shove, pushing him in the direction of one of the sets of ladders that lead down.

Joel was too tired to argue.

 

After they were well away from the others and tucked back towards where the slaughter hut was, Tommy opened up, leaning on the wall of the shack.

“Alright, spill it. There's obviously something off between you two, been for a while. Reckon you better start opening up to someone cause by the looks of it, you ain't gonna last much longer. You're a fucking mess Joel.”

Joel sighed, once more lifting his hand to his broken watch, a movement that didn't go unnoticed by Tommy.

“I lied to her.” He said at last.

“Bout' what?”

He was hesitant for a moment but went on regardless, telling Tommy everything that had happened at the hospital.

“Jesus Christ Joel.” He muttered as he pushed off the wall, running a hand through his hair.

“Hell was I supposed to do Tommy? She was fourteen years old. Was I s'pose to let them kill a little girl? You honestly telling me if I had left her with you, and you learned that, you'd leave her to die?”

“I didn't say anything like that Joel. I didn't say shit all. It's just...hard to wrap my head around is all. I get it. It'd be hard to leave a kid to die like that, to just...turn around and walk away. And no, I don't think I could'a just left her there. Problem is there's gonna be just as many people, if not more, who would condemn you for that decision. Could'a been a cure.”

“Could'a been. Could'a. No promise though Tommy. Found their paperwork, recordings...there were more, I didn't lie about that. But ain't one of them panned out. They all died for the research and nothing came of it. Same thing could'a...could'a been her fate...”

“...man, no wonder you look like shit. You have a lot weighing on your shoulders.”

“No kidding...”

“Take a break Joel, talk to Ellie. One less on the wall won't make a bit of difference.”

“Tommy...”

“Stop. You lose your big brother privileges when you get to the point you can't even take care of yourself. You're fucking listening to me now. You're gonna take a break, gonna talk to her about things. Christ you're gonna have a goddamned heart attack if you keep this up. Things might be rough between you, even after this. Just let her do her thing, let her vent. She'll come around again though.”

“How can you be so sure...?”

Tommy smirked lightly, one corner of his mouth going up a bit. “You're her daddy Joel...even if neither of you speak it. She loves you, it'll pass.”

He was off before Joel could say anything in response. He knew it was not going to go well, but he knew it was time to let it out.

 

It was almost dark before Joel finally made his way home. He'd more than once made the trek down the road, only to turn around and hide in some dark corner of the compound. He must have looked like a nervous wreck to most people, or a weirdo who lost his mind.  
But at last he finally gave in, trying his damnedest to swallow the lump in his throat and failing.

When he opened the door, he found Ellie sitting on the couch reading one of her Savage Starlight comics. It must have been the hundredth time she read the series, somehow being lucky enough to get all the copies.

The TV was also on in the background, playing one of the Jurassic Park movies, though which one he wasn't sure. He shook his head, wondering how many times he'd have to have this conversation about wasting electricity on something you aren't paying attention to.

“Scoot.” He said as he neared the couch, taking a seat after she pulled her legs away. He looked at the TV then looked at her. 

She only rolled her eyes.

“The third one sucks, I got bored of it.”

“And you didn't turn it off because...?

“...it was too quiet in here...”

He frowned and reached for the remote, stopping the movie.

“Can you put the comic down? We need to talk...”

Her eyes shot up from the pages and he couldn't miss the unmistakable look of fear in them.  
But typical Ellie, she quickly tried to hide it as she closed the book and tossed it on the coffee table.

“Alright. What do you want to talk about?”

“...I think you know...”

She stared at him for a moment before sitting up fully. “Yeah, I do know. Was thinking of asking you myself tonight...since you wouldn't talk...”

He ran a hand through his beard as he tried to figure how he'd start it.

As if knowing just what was going through his mind, Ellie piped up. 

“Just start at the beginning...”

He let out a long drawn out sigh, hand going to his broken watch almost immediately.

“I uh...after you went in the water...they found us. They didn't make me like them much right from the get go...seeing as you weren't breathing and...they didn't seem to give a shit. Knocked me right out...woke up in a bed with Marlene and one of those assholes looking over me.”

She said nothing, just kept her eyes on his face, as if she was trying to make sure every word he spoke now was indeed the god awful truth.

“She said they brought you back...that you were okay. But she wouldn't let me see you...said you were going into surgery...”

“...thought they just needed blood...?

“We thought wrong. They needed...they needed your brain Ellie. They were gonna kill you...”

She was quiet, the mixture of looks on her face were ones Joel couldn't completely decipher. There was fear there of course, hurt maybe. Probably from Marlene being willing to do that to her after knowing her for so long. But mostly just...an unsure look. Like she wasn't sure what to make of it.

“...they just wanted me to leave. Walk out of there and forget about you. Forget what was going on right at that very moment. I couldn't fucking do that Ellie. I couldn't let them kill you...”

“...what happened? What did you do?”

“...killed anyone that got in my way. Even the fucking doctor...even though he only had a scalpel for protection...”

“Joel...”

“Ellie...they were going to kill you. You were a kid. How the hell was I gonna let that happen? You weren't even awake to make your own choice in the matter.”

“No. So all of you tried to make the choice for me. I'm not sure who I should be more pissed at. You or them.”

“Them! They were the ones trying to kill you!”

“For humanities sake.”

“Humanities sake...”

He huffed and got up off the couch, the years of frustration over the matter coming out in an uncontrollable flood of emotions.

“You were fourteen Ellie! They were going to kill a child! They were...I couldn't lose another...I got to hold Sarah in the end...you...woulda just been there alone on a cold operating table with people who only saw you as a specimen...no one would have been there for you in the end...not even Marlene, who claimed she cared about you so much...look what she allowed...”

“...what did you do to her?”

It came out as a question, but he could hear the cold glint hidden in her tone.

“...I killed her too...so she wouldn't come looking for you...”

Ellie just got up after that, heading for the stairs without giving him another look.

“Ellie...please...you can't tell me you wanted to die there...that you aren't happy with being here...”

She still didn't look at him, instead only pausing on the first step, hand on the railing.

“...can't say those people out there would be so happy me being here...if they knew. Knew that two years ago you could have ended all this...”

“There was no proof it would work! One thing I didn't lie to you about is that there were others, and it didn't fucking work!”

“...we trekked across the whole fucking country...I killed people...I was almost...” She shook her head. “None of that was worth anything now.”

“We do what we have to to survive.”

“Yeah, at everyone elses expense.”

“Ellie...”

“Just shut up Joel. I need time to think.”

She ran up the stairs instead now, just to get away before he could talk again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fallowing day after Joel and Ellie's fight doesn't prove to be much better, and Joel soon finds himself in a dire situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a minor warning for animal injury. It's mild for the most part, but it might be a trigger for some so just giving a heads up.

Joel had done nothing but toss and turn all night when he had finally gotten himself to bed. He had thought about knocking on her door beforehand, hoping she had cooled down enough to try to talk with him again, but in the end he decided it really was too soon. Waiting for the morning was probably the better option for them both anyway.

But god was the morning so goddamn far off. He'd had sleepless nights before, most being right after Sarah died, then after Tommy left...and then Tess dying...  
This one felt so much worse though. He had laid there wondering if she was in there crying... If she'd gotten any sleep herself...if she hated him...if she was stalking the floor swearing to herself as she had a custom of doing when she was really pissed off.

He turned his head and looked out the window as the first rays of sunlight were finally beginning to light the sky outside, listened as people were already up and about as they prepared for their morning shifts. He'd be getting ready himself right about now, if his little brother hadn't banished him from work for the time being that is. Instead, he was forced to lay here listening to the world around him prepare for the day like it did every day, while he worried about his next conversation with Ellie.

Running his hand over his face, he forced himself up and shuffled his way out the door, heading for the bathroom. The house was quiet, something he wasn't really use to. Though Ellie would swear, quite literally, up and down that she didn't snore, truth is she did. And he wasn't hearing it. Maybe she was still awake? Or maybe she was just out of it enough that snoring wasn't even happening.

He shrugged it off with a sigh and went about his business in the bathroom before making his way downstairs. One way he figured he could break the ice a bit, was making one hell of a breakfast. Normally he was careful with their food stock but, he felt this was a special occasion. He had some sucking up to do, sucking up that probably wouldn't work cause she'd see right through it all. But it'd be a start anyway.

Ellie did like her food after all, even though her thin body would make someone think she hardly ate at all. But that was not true. She could put her food away about as good as Tommy and himself...a disturbing fact that often times disgusted Maria a bit. The look she'd give them when all three would let out a loud, simultaneous belch, was the most hilarious sight in the world.

Joel chuckled a bit at the thought. Poor Maria, thought she'd have another lady to bond with in the family. Ellie...had no idea what being a lady was.

Shaking his head, smile still firmly in place, he started fixing up something to eat. And it being an apology meal...that meant loads of bacon. Like every other human in the world...Ellie could not say no to bacon.

But after all was finished, and the unmistakable smell of cooked food had wafted up the stairs...there was still no Ellie.

Joel was getting concerned now.

He made his way up the stairs three at a time, heart pounding against his chest. He quickly made his way to her door and knocked lightly, waiting for a response.

Nothing.

Again he knocked and again there was no answer. Finally he just opened the door and scanned his eyes around the room. No Ellie. Her bed hadn't even been touched, the blankets still tucked in place, though a bit messily. Her bag was gone too and as he ran over to check her wardrobe, he noticed her coat was gone as well.

His heart was in his throat at this moment. Had she done it? Had she actually left him?

He ran from the room and nearly fell down the steps as he made his way for the door, not even grabbing his coat as he threw it open and ran outside. He had no idea when she left or which way she went. Or if she had even left the settlement at all. He had to be sure first, so he ran to Tommy and Maria's to see if maybe she bailed to their place for the night.

When he got there he slammed his fist on the door so hard the whole frame shook and garnered him some concerned looks from patrol groups walking by. He paid no attention to any of it though as he continued to pound till the door flung open, a very irritated Tommy scowling at him with hastily thrown on clothes.

“The hell Joel? Where's the fire?”

“Did you see Ellie? Did she come by here at all last night?”

“...no. Ain't been nobody here. Why? She's gone?”

“I told her last night, what happened. She went on up to her room after. Checked this morning and her stuffs gone. She ain't there.”

By this point Joel was breathing so heavy Tommy thought his brother was gonna keel over on him.

“Easy Joel...come on. Get in here and sit down. I'll grab my stuff and we'll head out to see if we can find her.”

Joel only nodded slightly, actually letting his brother lead him inside.

By this point Maria was coming down the stairs, pulling a thick flannel tight against the morning chill.

“The hell is going on? Trying to wake the dead Joel?”

“Ellie's gone.” Tommy said as he sat Joel down on the couch. “We're gonna head out and find her.”

“...shit. I didn't think she'd...”

“Neither did I. We gotta get her back here. Way those clouds have been looking lately...we're gonna have an early snow I think, and it ain't gonna be a pleasant one.” Tommy said with a hint of concern in his tone.

“I'll throw you boys some food together, just in case you do get stuck out there.”

Tommy nodded and kissed her before quickly bounding up the stairs. 

Maria moved her attention to Joel now, watching as he stared off into space. She wanted to say something, anything, but what could she say that would help? Far as he was concerned this was like losing Sarah all over again. Ellie was alone out there with infected and bandits everywhere and a storm moving in. He had to be terrified.

So instead of words, she gave him a gentle, reassuring squeeze on his shoulder before heading into the kitchen to throw something together for them.

 

Within the hour they were stocked and mounted on the horses. A quick head count told them all the horses were there, minus the two still missing, so she must have gone out on foot. Was obvious that she was trying her best not to make any noise. But there was still no way she should have gotten out of the settlement without dealing with the guards at the gate, a point Joel was quick to bring up when they got to it.

“Oi! Mitch!” Joel called up, the gruff pissed off side of him coming out and forcing attention to be paid to him.

“Uh...yeah? What's up Joel?” The younger man called down.

“You was on that gate all night yeah?”

“Yeah, of course. Well...”

“Well what!?”

“...I needed to take a piss...”

“Then piss off the wall! The hell? You telling me you walked off to find a bush or something!?”

“I'm sorry! Why? What's wrong?”

“Ellie took off.” Tommy said before his brother could get another word out. “I'm guessing she slipped out while you was taking your little break.”

“Shit...I...I'm sorry. I...”

“Don't be sorry! Don't fucking take guard duty if you can't stay on the fucking wall! Now I'll punch your face in when I get back, I gotta find my little girl right now!”

Mitch swallowed hard while Tommy just shook his head and gave him a sympathetic look. “We will talk about this when we get back though. That wasn't acceptable.”

“Yeah...you got it Tommy.”

By this point Joel had already thrown the gates open himself and was heading out, so Tommy spurred his horse to catch up with him.

“You keep putting the best people on watch you know that little brother? Yesterday it was a newbie who can't fucking make sure a gates locked.”

“I know Joel, but everyone's gotta start somewhere. What am I supposed to do? We're limited on who we can put on the wall, can't put the whole town on duty.”

Joel only sighed and spurred his horse on, eyes frantically darting around to look for signs.

“Goddammit.” He hissed. “Grounds starting to freeze up, ain't leaving much in the way of tracks.”

“Ain't nobody that can trek without leaving some sort of sign, you know that Joel. Now I know you're worried but you gotta keep your head. You know how to track, grandad taught us well.”

“Yeah...I know. I just...”

“We'll find her. I just...wish she'd stop making this shit a common occurrence.”

“Yeah...so do I...”

 

They'd gotten quite a distance from the settlement by the time the sun had fully risen and the world warmed itself a bit more. Life was moving all around them, but there still hadn't been any sign of Ellie.

They had found her trail though and Joel's hopes raised a little when they realized it's the same path that lead to the old ranch house they had found her at before. But when they got there, there wasn't any sign of her. It was pretty obvious someone had been there recently though. By the looks of what was left behind, it seemed to be a fairly good sized group, and neither of them had to really guess who it was. The bandits had moved in close again, and this camp couldn't have been more than a day or two old. They were in the area.

“Shit...this ain't good.” Tommy mumbled as they headed back for their horses. “We could try to check the town, only other place she could go. Most the other houses around here are too derelict to protect anyone from anything. And she's smart enough to know she can't get caught out in the open.”

“The town still secure?”

“Can't be sure. We ain't been down that way in quite some time. But if we're gonna hit it up, we're gonna need more help.”

“Ain't got time for that Tommy.” Joel grunted as he got on his horse, turning it sharply as he headed back down the pathway.

“Joel! Hold on a goddamn minute!”

Tommy spurred the horse and quickly caught up with him, reaching for his arm.

“We can't just go riding in there. You know they're a pretty sizable group, and we don't know if they're all together or not right now. It's too dangerous...”

“Don't give me that fucking too dangerous bullshit Tommy! She's already been gone god knows how long, and you want to wait longer? There's no telling what's happening to her right now! If they caught her or not! If they...”

He trailed off and snapped his mouth shut, continuing forward despite the hand grasped tightly on his sleeve.

As Joel moved forward, Tommy's hand fell loosely to the side, a bewildered look crossing his face. He spurred his horse again to keep pace with his brother, trying to read the expression on his face.

“Am I missing something here? The little girl has proven more than once shes capable of taking care of herself. What's...”

“Shes not a little girl anymore Tommy, and shes seen a fair share more than someone her age should.”

“It can't be helped Joel. Look at the world we live in, ain't no kid gonna really have the chance to be an actual kid.”

“Ain't what I'm getting at.”

“Then what the hell are you getting at?”

“Christ Tommy. Shes out here with a bunch of bandits running around. Fucking grown males...”

“Joel...”

“Shes already faced that demon once already...I'm sure of it. She hasn't said as much...straight up refuses to talk about it. But I know something happened...”

“Was she...?”

“...far as I know, no. But she sure sounded like something almost did. Said he tried...”

“...s'pose you smashed his face in?”

“Tch. Woulda' loved to. But by the time I got in there Ellie was on top of him hacking it off.”

“Christ...the hell happened to you two out there?”

“Too much...”

“Look I know with all that...you're scared for her. But we are outnumbered out here.”

“Get help if you want, but I'm pressing on.”

“You are a stubborn asshole you know that? Fine. I'll get a group put together, but please Joel, please don't do anything till we get there unless you have to. Right now we ain't even sure shes there or that they have her. You might be attacking them for nothing.”

“Fine, I got it. Just don't take too long, you know I ain't a patient man.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

Joel could see the frustration on his little brothers face as he turned around, see the slump in his shoulders as the same thoughts were no doubt going across his mind. He infuriated his little brother, he knew he did. But despite any spats they may have, Tommy was still going to always be his brother and still always going to end up helping him out.  
Joel really was feeling more and more like a jerk lately.

 

Joel turned his attention to the road ahead while Tommy headed back. The town wasn't too far from where they were so he'd be there in no time. Problem was the town wasn't really that small, was the town of Jackson itself after all. Even though it wasn't as big as many of the others he and Ellie had worked their way through to get to this point, it still was a daunting task for one person to cover on their own.  
He knew that in itself proved he should wait for Tommy but...if Ellie was there she could be in pretty deep.

He pulled his horse to a stop as he came to the top of the hill that looked over the town. Yup, this was not going to be easy. From where he was he could see the entirety of the town. Just below from his position he could see what looked like a baseball field, or what was still visible of it, so he guessed the school might be right near there. The trees to the side were still blocking his view so at the moment he couldn't be entirely sure.

Again, the town wasn't very huge, not a single building was very big height wise anyway. But it still presented a problem for searching. For one, towns are always dangerous and should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Wasn't just the infected or other humans you had to worry about, buildings were caving in, once domestic animals roamed the streets in packs. Then of course there was the wild animals that took up residence as well. Towns were just death waiting to happen around every corner.

But Tommy was right, she was a smart girl who would know better than to go too far with winter approaching. He knew she had to of took notice of the clouds lately too, you couldn't really miss them. They came in looking all angry and mean, just to roll away, like a predator in the shadows. You knew it was there, but you never knew when it would strike.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly began to work his horse down the incline of the old ski hill. Despite this, it was the safest route he could take considering. There were hills all around, with the mountains in the distance. There was a road wandering through the hills in that direction but, years of weather and without the aide of maintenance, they were covered from landslides and bits of rock that broke off and rolled down the hill. The damage even lead into some of the buildings at the base, each destroyed by massive amounts of earth.

After twenty some odd years, he was surprised half the buildings anywhere were in as good of shape as they were. But he figured as long as there were still people to live in them, then there was people fixing them up. He still wondered how long that was going to last though, he wasn't sure the human race could keep this up much longer. And he hadn't really helped much now had he?

Getting lost in his thoughts, had hadn't noticed the little divot of earth that had displaced itself, just waiting for just the right amount of pressure to give.  
He and the horse were just that right amount of pressure. The ground gave under the horses hooves causing it to panic as it tried it's hardest to regain it's footing. But as it struggled it only caused more of the ground to give way and soon there was just nothing to grip to.   
With a terrified squeal the horse flipped forward, head drilling into the ground before just going into an uncontrolled tumble.

Joel had managed to hold on for the initial tumble, but as the horse began to roll on it's side, Joel lost his grip on the reins. But before he had tumbled completely clear, the horse rolled right over his left leg, causing Joel to yell out in pain as he felt something in it pop.  
It seemed like an eternity of falling after that, and he just wasn't sure when he would finally hit the bottom of the hill. But after hitting brush and rolling over exposed rocks and roots, he finally came to a stop, landing flat on his chest, the wind getting knocked out of him.  
It was some time before he finally was able to move, momentarily forgetting about his leg.

“Fuck!” He yelled after he attempted to put pressure on it, the attempt only ending in him collapsing again.

He took a moment to center himself, taking deep breaths to try and make the pain dull. And after a short while, it did.

He took another moment to inspect his injuries. There were small cuts all over his face, most likely from the brush and roots that scraped across it as he fell. It didn't seem too serious though, and whatever blood there was was just tiny amounts on the surface.  
Touching his forehead though, he could feel a welt growing, and the touch caused him to hiss in pain. Again, minor. Nothing that would cause a concussion he believed, but something to irritate the hell out of him.

The worst of course was his leg. He prodded at it as best he could, trying to ignore the pain as he tried to see if it was broken or not. Luckily, it didn't seem so. But his knee was not where it was supposed to be. So that had been the pop he felt, his knee dislocating.

Dislocations were a bitch to deal with, but at least they could be fixed quickly enough, and he'd still be able to move, though it would be slow and painful going.

The thought of moving brought another thought to the front of his mind, and he quickly looked around.

Not far off, struggling on the ground, was the horse. The poor thing was trying hard to get back up, but it would never be able to. Even from his position he could see that two of it's legs were at an unnatural angle, and as it tried to get up it was making really alarming twitching motions. It made him wonder if it damaged vertebrae on the way down as well. Either way...the poor thing was never getting up again.

The world was harsh, and though Joel had seen many things, it didn't mean he was use to them all. And this instance right here was nothing new either. He'd faced things like this even before the outbreak. Back when they were kids on their grandparents ranch, their grandpa was teaching them to ride and Tommy's horse spooked and bolted. That had ended in Tommy having a broken arm, and a broken back for the horse. He watched as his grandpa shot the horse.

And he knew it was best to do the same thing here. He couldn't leave the poor thing to suffer.

First things first though, he had to fix himself so he could move. So carefully he placed his fingers where he knew they had to be on his knee and took long, deep breaths. He gritted his teeth and grunted as he popped his knee back into place, the sound sickening and loud enough to echo.

After the pain ebbed away a bit, he shrugged off his coat and slowly made his way back to his feet, limping over to the poor horse.  
The horse could barely move now and was only making pained grunts between it's labored breathing.

“Sorry boy.” Joel said quietly as he slowly ran his hand along its neck, petting it gently as some form of reassurance.

Then, he took the coat and set it over the horses head, covering from it's eyes up. He made sure he had it good and scrunched so it was thick before placing the gun against it, using the coat as a muzzle. Then he pulled the trigger and all went quiet.

Letting out a sigh, he slowly got back up and holstered his gun, putting the now blood stained coat back on. It would have to do, he couldn't go without a coat after all.

Looking around to get his bearings, he started to limp towards the edge of town, praying no one, or no thing, heard any of that. The fall itself had been far from quiet.

For now it looked like he was in the clear so he made his way as quick as he could towards the buildings. He was in just as much trouble out in the open as he was in the town. But at least the town provided cover.

He made his way to what seemed like the town square, keeping close to the buildings and well out of the streets.   
The town itself looked like something out of the old west. A lot of the buildings taking on that rustic style of days long gone by. Even the sidewalk he was stepping on was like a flash to the past, as it was made out of wood, though the wood had long since given in in a lot of places, no doubt due to weather and termites.

He continued cautiously down the walk, having a little chuckle at himself when he noticed even this place had a Starbucks. Guess the story of one on every corner was true.

Further down the way he found western style shops and even art galleries, all of which he was sure had nothing much pretty to look at anymore.  
One of the buildings in town had a big sign on it with a cowboy on a bucking bronco, but it looked about ready to crumble down to the ground as well.  
And right where the intersection was he could see a park with an entryway made entirely out of elk antlers, though again, they were ravaged by time. 

If it had been a different time he would have liked to visit here, but here and now, it was just another death trap.

A death trap that Ellie might possibly be in. The question was, where?

If it was indeed a big group, then apartments or hotels would be a good place to look. 

But that would have to wait, he could hear voices somewhere. Being where he was at the square, he couldn't really pinpoint the sound.

“Shit.” He hissed as he made his way towards the park and ran through the archway, hiding behind a bucking bronco statue while he waited to see if anyone came out.

Sure enough, a group of three walked their way up to the archway, stopping just outside it.  
One of them, an older man with graying hair, pulled out a smashed up pack of cigs and popped one in his mouth.

“Dude? The hell you find those?” The younger of the three asked. He couldn't be older than maybe nineteen.

“Dude?” the old man repeated. “I'm not a dude. Learn to be a little more respectful to your elders boy.”

“Who follows those rules in these days? Ain't no one that does, that's who.”

The older man huffed and lit his cig, taking a long drag. “People felt the same way when I was younger too. The old don't have much use anymore right? You'd be surprised what us useless old farts can really do to young punks like you when a lesson needs to be taught. The difference between then and now? Ain't no law that says how far we can go to teach the lesson. So what about it son? Want to test me further?”

“...no. No, I don't wanna test you, I'm good...sir...”

The other man let out a deep billowy laugh as he slapped the younger man on the back.

“Take it easy Carter, he's just messing with you. Think he's really gonna just fuck you up cause you called him dude?”

“...never know with you guys. One minute you can be all happy and joking, next thing your smacking girls halfway across the street.”

“Hey.” The other man started, crossing his arms over his chest. He couldn't be much older than Joel himself. Maybe a few years younger. His graying was less pronounced anyway, and you could see much of his chocolate brown hair. “The bitch fucking kicked me between the legs, she deserved it.”

“Was just a girl...”

“What's the matter carter? Got a soft spot for her? Wanna taste her maybe?” The chocolate haired man said with a smirk.

Watching all this, Joel could feel the bile rising in his throat. He had a horrible feeling.

“No. No, course not Chris. Just saying...shes a girl...”

“Awww, your momma put those morals in your head about not hitting women? Look kid, she kicked me. She invited it.”

“Leave the boy alone Chris. Let him believe what he wants. Besides, she wouldn't have kicked you if you hadn't put your hands where they didn't belong.”

Chris only huffed at him. “Ain't really a lot of women in our group if you hadn't noticed.”

“That's another thing. She was no adult, keep your fucking hands to yourself, or next time I'll cut them off.”

“The worlds gone to hell, are you really...”

He was cut off as the old man pulled out a rather large bowie knife.

“I will repeat myself one last time, you will refrain from touching the girl, or any girl who don't want it, do you understand me?”

He made his point further by poking the tip of the knife into Chris' throat.

“Yeah...yeah Bradson, I got it.”

“Good, now don't fucking forget it.” He said as he put the knife away.

Chris only scoffed at them both before he made his way off, cursing the whole time.

Carter chuckled a bit, more than happy to see him leave.

“He's a real piece of work isn't he Bradson?”

“He is, and unfortunately the worlds full of men like him, even more so now.” He grunted a bit in distaste before dropping his cig to the ground and stepping on it. “Well, breaks over. We best get back to the Wort or there'll be hell to pay.”

Carter nodded and followed Bradson down the street, eventually disappearing from sight.

“The Wort?” Joel uttered just under his breath. Well he had a name now, and possibly proof that they had Ellie. It certainly sounded like her after all. Only way he was going to know was if he found his way to the Wort and checked it out. And god help this Chris guy, cause he was going to make sure his face met with his fist.

 

Not far away, he found the place they had mentioned. Wort Hotel. Bit of an odd name, but what wasn't odd these days?

Looking around, Joel quickly made his way across the street, his leg dragging slightly as he did so. He wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to do this. Had he been younger he'd probably all but walked this off by now, but at his age that just wasn't possible. His knee throbbed something fierce and it was starting to lock up. He was starting to wonder if there had been more damage than he thought, or that maybe he ended up damaging it more.

He swore to himself as he pushed on, trying his best to just ignore it till he finished what he came here to do.

He made his way to the front of the building, leaning against the brick that encompassed the bottom half of it. He took a moment to catch his breath before moving along the wall to look for a side entrance rather than risking the obvious, probably guarded, front.  
He ducked below the low set windows that were along the front and slipped around to the side.

Eventually he found another door and carefully tried the handle.

Locked. Course it would be.

Reaching around to his pack, he pulled out the knife from one of the pockets and carefully shived the door, careful to check along the frame for any signs of traps. There didn't seem to be any, and if there had been a sound trap it would have already gone off. So, satisfied, he quietly stepped inside and carefully shut the door behind him.

He placed the blade back into his pack as he made his way forward down the hall, pulling the handgun from his holster.   
It was quiet, and that rightfully put him on edge.

He eventually emerged into the front foyer, which didn't have anyone guarding like he thought there would be. He was clearly unsettled and wanted to get out of this front area quickly.

He had quite a few options though. There was a set of stairs that went up in the center of the room with two different ways to go on either side of them, each with separate halls to choose.  
Above he could see the balcony that wrapped around, leading to the rooms above, below was most likely sitting areas, bathrooms and restaurants. That's how it usually went.

He decided to clear the lower floor first, as he wasn't sure if they would have locked Ellie in one of the rooms or not. It was Ellie after all, she would have found a way out.

So keeping with his plan, he cleared the main area first, which was really only a sitting area behind the stairs where a stone fireplace resided, a crumbling moose head above.  
He checked the few doors that were back in that area as well, but they produced nothing.

So he continued on till he found himself in a bar. The tables and chairs, though worn, still resided in the room, stools also still lined along the bar. A good portion of those hadn't fared as well as the rest of the furniture.  
To the back of the room there was a small stage area which had partially collapsed in on itself. And the bar that snaked along the far wall had loads of silver dollars in place beneath a clear counter top.

“The Silver Dollar.” He mumbled, remembering the sign he'd passed that named the room.

Surprisingly there was still some alcohol in place, a rare thing. Like stores and gas stations, bars were cleared out within the first week of the outbreak. But being in a very western town, where almost everyone probably had a gun, he guessed no one tried to fuck with the town early on. And believe it or not, some towns did pool together in an effort to survive.  
Somewhere along the line, they obviously failed. He blamed the weather more than infected in this case. With the grid down, winter out this far was brutal.

He stirred from his thoughts when he heard a shuffling from the outside hall and he quickly dragged himself behind the bar. He'd only just managed to duck down as a group of six made their way into the room, Chris being one of them.

“Alright!” He called out. “No use hiding! We know you're in here! You really think you went unnoticed? Come on. we're the only people in this whole fucking town!”

Joel stayed low with his gun clutched to his chest, weighing his options. He had cover, he might be able to take them. But with the first shot he'd alert the whole building. But if these guys knew then the whole group probably knew anyway, and there was no way he'd get clear of this place with his bummed leg.

“Come on! Just make it easy on yourself! Give up now and we might just let you live! Assuming you pull your weight and all!”

“Chris...” One of the others next to him started. “They're ain't enough...”

“Shut the fuck up.” He hissed. “Ever heard of a bluff?”

Boy did this guy need a lesson in bluffing, Joel was never one to buy into bullshit nor was he one for putting his gun down. In fact his answer was popping up and taking out the two on either side of this Chris guy, causing everyone in the room to scatter. The only options they had were to turn over the tables to use as cover while Joel had the whole damn bar. And he was sure this bar was a lot stronger than those tables had to be after so long.

“You done fucked up mister! We coulda' worked this out!”

“Don't bullshit me! I ain't no novice at this! I've been making a living off of others lives far longer than you I'm sure!”

“What you gonna do on your own! There's no way out of this!”

“Had worse odds!” He shouted as he grabbed one of the liquor bottles and crafted a Molotov.

“Here! Have one on me!” 

He chucked it right where they all stupidly had taken cover close to each other, relaxing a bit when he heard the crash of the glass and the screams start up. He didn't duck out of cover yet though, was still quite possible someone had escaped it. He did use the time to search for a way out though. There had to be more than just the entry from the hall. Fire rules and all. And with the room burning right now...he found the sudden irony in it. 

And of course there was a fire door...right passed the burning corpses. But what choice did he have? There were corpses burning in a room full of wooden furniture, the room was getting thick with smoke, and he was sitting by multiple bottles of alcohol. No real choice.

Readying himself, he crawled out from behind the bar and dragged himself towards the escape.  
But the sudden sharp pain shooting through his leg caused him to crash to the floor face first. 

“Fuck!” He grunted. But it wasn't his knee. As he went to grab for his leg out of instinct, he felt something wet, and a quick investigation showed his hand stained in his blood. He'd been shot, though somehow he hadn't heard nor felt it.

“Like I said, you done fucked up mister.”

Chris was standing over him, left side of his face blistered and burned from the flaming cocktail.

Joel had no time to react before a boot came down hard on his face, and the world went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joel finds himself in a rough spot after he manages to get captured. Is this finally it for him? Or will he finally manage to catch a break in this cruel world?

At first, the sensation Joel was feeling rather annoyed him. He couldn't quite figure what it was yet, only that whatever it was, made his blood boil and made him want to lash out. Problem was the world was still draped in darkness and he couldn't seem to move at all.

The sensation was getting worse though, and it was actually starting to cause him a fair bit of pain. That pain grew into a massive stinging sensation across his face, which caused him to grunt despite himself. It was starting to feel like someone was trying to get his attention.

But when that didn't even pull the darkness from his eyes, something else did. He screamed out and cursed as his knee exploded with pain over and over. He could feel it now, like someone was pounding on it. And when his eyes finally opened, he realized that was because someone was.

Chris was standing in front of him, glaring through the one good eye he now had. The burn to his face had settled a bit, and the skin no longer looked as though it was bubbling and peeling off. But it was a sick mixture of colors and it was blistered in such a way that Joel was for a moment, reminded of the Phantom of the Opera.

“You are a hard one to wake.” Chris said with a hiss to his voice, clearly not in the mood for anything. Joel couldn't blame him. He doubted he'd be in the mood if half his face was burned off either.

“Now...you and me are gonna have ourselves a little talk. You're gonna tell me how many of you there are, what you're here for.”

Joel's response was to spit in his face.

Chris' was to kick him in the knee.

“GAH! FUCKING HELL!”

“I can do this all day. Why you here, and how many?”

Joel only looked at him for a second before he let his eyes roam the room. Looked like he was in a basement or something. But judging by the shelves and some of the bottles still there, he assumed it could be a wine cellar. And with the heavy smell of smoke still lingering, he guessed still in the Wort.

Chris backhanded him across the face. “Hey! Pay attention you dumb shit! Don't go looking for ways out, you won't find any.”

“There's always a way out.” Joel said, eyes finally landing back on him again. “Just depends how much you really want to get out.”

“Well you won't get out. Between you and the doors are a lot of angry men. You know how much damage you caused starting that fire?”

“Don't really care.”

“Well I'm gonna make you care. You're just lucky we managed to get it put out.”

“You got a whole damn town, not like you couldn't hole up elsewhere.”

Chris kicked him again.

Joel grit his teeth and hissed through them.

“I ain't playing no games with you. You're gonna answer my questions.”

“Or what? You'll kill me? I've been playing this game a long while, you're gonna have to come up with better threats.”

“Oh I only just got started with you. You have no idea what I can do.”

“Well quit dragging your damn feet and show me.”

“So be it.”

 

Chris crossed the room, heading for a chair that sat in a corner of it. While his back was turned, Joel quickly took in his predicament. He was sitting in a chair, one of the many wooden ones that littered the building. He moved his arms a bit as they were stretched back and tied behind said chair. The bindings seemed pretty strong, but the chair wasn't. Joel knew a wooden chair was easy enough to break, but add twenty some years and he was surprised it was even holding his weight.

He stopped moving when Chris turned back around, heading over with chair in hand. He set it down in front of Joel, but not directly in front of him. He wasn't completely dumb it seemed.  
He settled down in it and leaned forward a bit, looking Joel in the eyes.

“Now, again. What are you doing here, and how many?”

“What are you? A fucking parrot? I've been interrogated by people that were actually trained to do it, and I still didn't talk, you're gonna have to do a whole lot better.”

“You will talk.”

“Bandit right? Raiding places, stealing things, that's what you do best. You fight when you gotta, but torture ain't known to be a bandit's forte. Do you really got what it takes to get me to talk?”

“You seem real over confident with yourself you know that?”

“Told you, been around the block quite a few times.”

Chris picked his leg up and leaned his foot hard on Joel's injured knee. “Don't matter how long you been around, world's always got something new for us.”

Joel just glared at him, teeth grit so tightly he thought his gums would start bleeding. He had no intention of telling this guy anything. He knew he could hold out till Tommy and the others got there. He just had to keep trailing this guy along where he wanted him to go.

“That's a good look for you, face looks better with half of it missing, kinda like that Two Face Fella from them comics.”

He pushed harder against Joel's knee, causing a slight hiss to emanate, but that's all Joel would allow.

“Don't be a fucking baby. Could be worse, you could be dead.” Joel hissed.

“Shut the fuck up. Fucking blind in my eye cause of you.”

Joel had to hide the smirk that wanted to creep on his face. Good, he slipped up a bit. He figured he'd been impaired from the burn, but he hadn't been quite sure if he still had sight in it or not. This was good news, meant he had a massive blind spot.

Joel kept at him, the whole time very carefully working at his bindings. He couldn't do much with Chris right in front of him though, he needed more movement. But this idiot wasn't going to get out of his sight any time soon, so he figured he was just going to have to quit playing games and just let the brute out.

“One thing you gotta learn when you capture random people. You don't know where they're from, who they are, and they sure as hell ain't gonna be too forthcoming in telling you. I know you ain't got what it takes to get me to talk cause I can see it in your eyes. You're an asshole, but you haven't completely burned that bridge.”

“And just how the hell can you tell all that just from looking at me, huh?”

Joel let a smirk cross his face, the only warning he was inclined to give about what was coming next.

“I know cause it was my business to know. See, hunters always know.”

Chris barely made his way up from the chair before Joel just busted the whole back of his own chair and got to his feet. His arms were still well tied behind his back but, it wasn't like he needed them. He just bull rushed Chris face first into the stone wall, being sure to make his face hit a few more times by slamming his own face against the back of his head.

Chris was no where near Joel's size or bulk, so the first blow alone incapacitated the man.

Joel let him slide to the floor before kneeling down and turning so his hands could get at him, trying to reach for his knife.

He never managed it though, as he felt the barrels of multiple guns poking him in the head. He looked up with his eyes, seeing the old man and the kid from earlier, plus one other.

“I don't think so buddy.” Bradson said, motioning for him to get up with his other hand. “You'd get worse for what you just did, if I liked Chris anyway. As it happens, I don't, so I'll cut you a break. But you try it again, and there won't be another chance for you.”

Joel slowly got to his feet and looked at them, waiting for whatever happened next.

“Move it.” Bradson said, motioning for the door.

 

The three of them lead him up from the cellar, pushing him along through a group of very angry looking faces.  
Bradson said something to one of them, from what Joel could catch, something along the lines of, 'check on the dickhead in the cellar.'  
If it weren't for the circumstances he might just have taken a liking to the old man.

Joel went quietly with the three men as they lead him down a set of stairs to what seemed to be another cellar, this one obviously more for normal storage. He could tell they had done some renovating though, as walls of cells had been added to the walls on either side of the room, made out of stone no doubt taken from the many buildings that had crumbled from either the ravages of weather or time.

These small rooms were fitted with heavy wooden doors at the front, each only having a small square at the top to let in light and so the guards could check on them. Each of these holes were fitted with heavy thick fencing in place of what normally would have been bars. 

“Far as I can see, I can trust you here.” Bradson said as he undid the bindings while Carter opened the door.

Joel gave him a confused look as to what he meant, but before he could try to read any of it, the other man shoved him into the cell and Carter quickly shut and locked it. He was thrown into darkness, save for the bit of light that came through the hole at the top.

Shaking his head, he felt around till his hand settled on the wall and he settled against it, sliding down to take a seat. Best he could figure, the old man just meant he trusted he wouldn't try to slug him or anything when he untied him. Thinking on it, he found he wouldn't have. Other than keeping him captive, he hadn't really done much to him.

He could feel that sensation in his stomach now, that creeping sickening feeling that he had once again failed. He got himself caught, locked up. And god knows how many of these guys there were, if Tommy and the others could even manage to get in here without risking life and limb. The hell was he supposed to do now?

He looked up at the door, already trying to figure if there was some way to break the thing down. He moved to test it, slamming one of his fisted hands against it a few times to test it's solidity. It was indeed pretty solid. These guys were sure hellbent on keeping whoever they put in the cells where they were.

Seeing that was a dead end, he resigned himself to the floor again, resting against one of the walls and letting his head thump backwards against it.

“Fuck. How the hell did I let myself get caught like that?”

Heaving a long heavy sigh, he went about checking on his previous injuries now that he had the time.

His knee was throbbing something fierce now, and a further inspection with his hands proved to him that he was more worse off than he thought. He could feel it had doubled in size as it swelled, making bending it, and altogether moving it, a painful event.

Next he checked on the bullet wound. As he rolled up his pant leg to check it, he found it was far less severe than he had previously thought. The massive red stain it left had given him cause for alarm. But upon further inspection he found it had just gone under the initial layer of skin, where the thickest bit of flesh is just under the knee. It had gone in and out, making it a clean shot. Least there would be no need to dig anything out and thereby more pain. Didn't mean it didn't burn like hell though. 

Cursing again, he tried to figure both a way out of his predicament, and how he was going to get around with his bummed knee. Not to mention tracking down Ellie.

His mind searched for answers, and thought after thought went through his mind, but none of them proved useful.

He closed his eyes as he cursed to himself over and over. He was weary, in pain, and most of all in fear for Ellie's safety. He regretted telling her everything now. If he hadn't said anything then they would both still be at home right now, doing their everyday chores and just getting by best as one can in this world. Albeit with a nagging questioning always at the back of both their minds. 

She would have asked him eventually, and he feels like if she had he would have chosen to shrug it off, continue to live the lie till his dying day. It wouldn't matter if she questioned him, or even hated him a bit for holding things from her, at least she'd still be there.

He squeezed his eyes tighter as an odd feeling reached the corners of them, something he hadn't felt in ages, the unmistakable stinging of tears. This was like Sarah all over again...he was failing.

He grunted and balled up his fist, slamming it into the floor. He regretted it immediately as a jolt of pain coursed it's way up his arm, causing him to curse yet again.

For a brief moment he missed the old days, the days where he didn't give a shit about anything, where he didn't care. Where he went about doing things at his own pace, forcing people to see his way while looking down the barrel of the gun he was pointing at them. Missing the days where it was just about him and survival.

He let out a resigned sigh though as he realized those days were numbered before the fiery redhead even entered his life. Back when another fiery girl, or woman in this case, quite literally stumbled on him, scaring the shit out of the both of them.

Unlike him though, Tess hadn't hesitated to shove her gun barrel right between his eyes, accusing him of running with whatever assholes had been chasing her. She had changed her tune only a moment later when she realized he was barely standing on his own two feet, eyes all bloodshot and smelling of booze.

That had been the day that particular part of Joel had died. Where his not giving a shit had vanished.

He was sure she and Ellie would have been a hell of a pair if she had lived.

He growled as the thoughts threatened to overwhelm him, and he struggled to keep his composure. He couldn't let his memories defeat him, and so he decided for now he would just try to escape them. He curled up into a ball on the cold floor, ignoring the meager pile of grass or hay, whatever was in the corner being used for a bed. He needed the cold of the floor right now, both to sober him and to make his aching and burning limbs feel at least a tad bit better.

With a long drawn out sigh, he tried his best to sleep, hoping his memories would avoid his dreams.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

 

His eyes suddenly shot open as he heard the loud bang of a door slamming, followed by slow even footsteps.

He sat up slowly, noticing his cell was primarily pitch black now. He must have slept well into the night, either that or the light just wasn't hitting the small cellar window.

“You awake in there?” 

The deep growly voice asked from beyond the door. It was the old man, Bradson.

For a moment Joel didn't answer, he had no reason to talk to this guy nor the desire. But, the older man had proven to be less of an asshole than his buddy so, Joel decided to give him a response.

“Am now.” He said, trying to sound as pissed off as possible, though in truth he was just tired and in a lot of pain.

“Wasn't sure if you'd get any sleep, what with you being all banged up like you are.”

Joel chose not to respond to this. Rule number one, never elude to the extent of your injuries.

Bradson didn't seem to care though as he continued.

“We don't get many people through here really, most are smart enough to veer well clear of here. Only the stupid ones enter, or the desperate. So, one has to ask, are you stupid or desperate?”

Again Joel didn't answer.

“...I see. Maybe neither then? There's only one other thing that would bring someone to a city if not being stupidity or desperation. They're looking for someone.”

Joel's left eye twitched. He could tell by the tone in the old mans voice at the end, that he knew full well the truth. He figured Joel was looking for the girl. But again he said nothing, though the anger was starting to build in him. He wanted so bad to jump to his feet and scream at he old man, to make him tell him where Ellie was. But he knew it would do no good anyway, plus he wasn't even sure his leg would hold him upright if he did.

“She's alright you know. We don't all stay in the same building, that would just be foolish. I got her where I stay, was the best way I could keep her away from Chris. In fact, I moved her there just before we found you. Otherwise she'd be in that cell next to you right now.”

Joel could take no more, and against his better judgment he forced himself to his feet, correct in his assumption that his leg might not hold him. He let out a painful grunt as it gave way and left him plowing face first into the door.

“Shit, that didn't sound pleasant.”

“Fuck...you...”

“Easy. I'm not here to goad you on, nor to work on your emotions. I know a concerned father when I see one, and you are the most concerned I've seen in a real long while.”

“...I don't care about your damn group, I just want my girl back.”

“...girl huh? You're not her real father then huh? Well, that makes me respect you a whole lot more now. Not many people would take in a child not their own in this day and age.”

“Respect me?”

Bradson sighed deeply from the other side of the door, leaning heavily against it.

“I was a father once...a long long time ago...”

That gave Joel a pause, the flashes of his own long lost days of fatherhood again flashing before his eyes.

“It ended the way you're probably thinking it did. Lived in Billings at the time...didn't get the warning some places got...we tried to get out but...”

Bradson went quiet for a moment, his shifting feet clearly audible from the other side. He wasn't comfortable with this.

“...this guy ran up on us...neighbor...and friend of nine odd years, brandishing a gun at us. His car wouldn't start and he wanted ours. I was gonna give it to him...had to keep my family safe...but he was freaking out, and he shot my wife...right in the chest. That brought them...the infected. They were on him in seconds, tearing him apart in front of me and my daughters eyes. And then...”

He went quiet again, and it didn't take much for Joel to figure what happened next.

“It was the early days...so we didn't know what to expect from it. Not long after my little girl got bit...she went mad, turned. I never...I never thought I'd have to turn my gun on my own little girl...”

Silence permeated the air after that, neither man having the strength needed to say even a single word. 

Joel couldn't imagine going through what Bradson had, having to shoot your own child. And as much as he hated losing Sarah, he was glad she didn't go that way. If she had turned...he would never have been able to pull the trigger. He would have just let her take him...or maybe...take them both out...

He shook his head, the thoughts of what he would or wouldn't do tearing him apart inside.

He took a few breaths finally before attempting to speak.

“The hell are you telling me this for? I'm not...you're not gonna get me to...”

He had to trail off though, his voice was starting to fail him.

“...because I can see into you. You understand the weight I carry.”

“How do you...”

“...those eyes carry memories...pain...and proof this isn't your first time as a father. But I also see the anger, bloodshed...murder. I made the world bleed for what I went through, and you did too. That's why I'm telling you this, because you can still so easily fall off that fine line, fall away from salvation.”

“Ain't no such thing as salvation pal...”

“There is. In that little girl.”

He turned now so his eyes were peering through the small opening at the top of the cell door.

“I didn't want to be here, anymore than you wanted to follow the path you did. But we both convinced ourselves it's all we had, used it to forget. Covered our pain in liters of other peoples blood. But that doesn't work does it? Sometimes we just can't save ourselves...and sometimes it takes others to do what we can not.”

“...sounds like you found your own salvation then huh?”

“It's been a long time since I've seen anyone care for anybody like you do...and it gives me hope. I know the best way out of the city, and I plan on helping you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, I rewrote this a few times. Don't know why this one gave me so much trouble but, I kept adding and taking things away. Some things just didn't seem to fit right to me, or were just plain too soon to go over. So, I actually deviated slightly from my original path here. But it works, and actually helps me a bit for later on stuff. 
> 
> ...this was just supposed to be a short little venture but it might be a little longer than intended. Oh well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joel isn't the only one facing challenges, elsewhere in the city Ellie is facing her own. And things, as per usual, go from bad to worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, sorry this one got updated so late. Since the story ended up becoming longer than previously planned, I had to go through and re-work chapters, and this one was a doozy because far different things were happening. And I got behind on all that because of issues at work...so I was really far too tired to mess with the chapters for a while. This may happen again...since it is the Holiday season and we get busy, but I will try my best not to let the gaps be too great.
> 
> So again, I apologize and will try my best to not let the next post be so far away.

Carter was cautious as he entered the basement of the old house Bradson had procured for himself. He knew what he was in for, seeing as he'd faced it every time he walked up to that girl. Ellie was not quiet by any means, and had no problem with tearing you a new one whenever you came near. It made dinner time a very traumatic experience.

But, this was his job and he did the best he could to ready himself as he approached the storage unit she was locked up in.

She was curled up quietly on a cot against the wall, blankets pulled up tightly under her chin. Bradson had done everything he could to make her comfortable, which of course drew her suspicion of the old man.

Bradson had only laughed off her accusations and left her to Carter's care whenever he was out...much to Carter's discontent. It wasn't that he disliked her in anyway, he was just downright terrified of her.

Carefully, he set the tray of food on the floor near the bottom of the door, before stepping back and clearing his throat.

She was up in seconds, jumping from the cot and taking on a fighting stance. She relaxed after a few moments though, her look turning to one of annoyance as she re-positioned so she stood with her hands on her hips.

“Oh, it's you again. What do you want now?”

“I...uh...food...I mean, it's dinner time. Brought you something to eat.”

“What is it?”

“Elk. We uh...shit I really wish you'd stop looking at me like that. We don't eat people.”

“And how can you tell that's what I was thinking?”

“You wouldn't be the first to think it. We've been desperate before yeah but, we'd never resort to that.”

“You sure about that? Survival makes us do some pretty messed up shit.”

“Look...even if they did resort to it...I wouldn't be able to. And I sure as hell wouldn't try to feed an outsider people, honest.”

She only shook her head as she knelt down, pulling the tray through the small notch at the bottom of the cage door.

“I uh...you never said your name.”

“You're right, I didn't.” She said through a mouthful of meat.

“I...I'm Carter, by the way.”

“I know. I heard you and the old man talk enough.”

“That's...he's Bradson.”

“Don't give a shit.”

“...I'm trying to be sociable here...”

“Didn't ask you to be.”

He sighed a bit as he crossed the room, pulling a chair over from the corner and taking a seat in front of the cell.

“We ain't gonna hurt you ya know.”

“And I'm supposed to believe that?”

“We're not like them. There's a few real nice people here. We just...got stuck in a situation we can't get out of...”

“Sure you can. You just walk off.”

“To where exactly?”

“Anywhere but here.”

“...look, I know you have every reason not to trust us, but you don't have to be a bitch the entire time.”

“I don't?”

“We're trying to help you.”

“...and why are you trying to help huh? What do you really have in mind?”

“Nothing. I told you, we ain't gonna hurt you.”

“Considering the way things have gone since I got here, I'm not much in the way of believing that. I know how this shit works. You act all nice and open to people, draw them in by your supposed charity in helping them, then BOOM!”

He jumped in his seat as the last word echoed loudly through the small room, causing him to reach for his ears out of instinct.

“Christ girl!”

She shoved the tray through the slot in the door, giving it enough force that it slammed against the toes of Carter's boots.

“You're not getting shit from me, so cut the nice guy bullshit and go fuck off.”

She backed off, taking a seat against the far wall and glaring directly at him.

“I'm not trying to get any information out of you. Look, I don't know what happened to make you distrust everyone but, we really are trying to help you here. We're not playing any tricks with you.”

“Just stop talking...”

“I just...guh. I don't even know why I'm trying here.”

“Yeah, please stop.”

Carter just shook his head as he stood, bending down to pick up the tray.

“I tried. Once Bradson gets back we'll know what we're going to do with you.”

“You try to do anything to me...you'll regret it.”

“...I meant keeping you here or letting you go. Christ, haven't you been listening at all? I'm just holding down the fort till he finishes talking to some guy we picked up, so don't get pissed at me. Nothing I do around here is ever my choice.”

“Shit man, not like you aren't old enough to make your own choice.”

“Thought you wanted me to shut up?”

He turned his back on her then, making his way for the stairs without saying another word.

For a long while after that, things were quiet, save for the wind that had started to pick up a bit outside. She could tell exactly what it meant, the storm was moving in, and she was stuck well away from home. Boy had it turned into a dumb idea to come out here, and just to find a couple of missing horses.

She'd only done it to clear her head a bit, and of course to at least get her favorite horse back. But she knew Joel probably thought otherwise. She knew he probably thought she'd left for good. Christ, he had to of been going crazy by this point.

In all honesty, she wasn't even mad at him really. After a little time to think, she understood why things happened the way they did. Hell, she knew for a fact if she trekked almost a full year across the country with some kid, she'd find it hard to hand them over to death either.

Her anger had mostly come from the fact that he pretty much told humanity to fuck off, made everything she had done look useless...and killed Marlene.

But...perhaps he hadn't told humanity to fuck off. Maybe it still wouldn't have worked even if they had gotten her brain out. And everyone she killed...well...they'd be dead if she hadn't. It was survival, and would have happened whether they had a mission or not. And Marlene...well, that one still hurt. Next to Riley...Marlene had been all she had. And after Riley turned...after she was forced to kill her...Marlene 'WAS' all she had. 

But she understood Joel, understood he had been a father who refused to lose another child...and she knew even though he didn't say it, he saw her as his own. Had pretty much since they neared the end of their journey, maybe even before. He acted from pain...and a bit of greed but, mostly pain, and fear. She actually wondered if he hadn't made it, if they had removed her brain before he got there...if he would have even been able to go on. Tommy had told her a bit, about how bad Joel was after Sarah's death. So she had no doubt Joel would have never left Salt Lake alive, and his death may have been by his own hand.

She was actually starting to feel a bit regretful now, regretful in how she handled the situation, what she was putting him through. She just wanted to go home and finally try to move on. To no longer have this weight on their shoulders, to maybe...live life like an actual father and daughter...

She let out a long, deep sigh as she got up, making her way over to the cot and plopping down on it. This was not how things were supposed to be, not how she had envisioned them. When she had told Joel that they could go wherever he wanted once they were done with the Fireflies, she had expected just what had happened, staying at Tommy's. Just...not the complications that came with it, and certainly not being locked up in a cell somewhere in some old guys house.

That thought alone made her skin crawl. The boy, Carter, had been pretty adamant that the old man had no ill will towards her, nor any unsavory intentions. But after David...she found it hard to believe anything anyone said. Though, she supposed if he had any intentions, he already would have acted on them. And seeing as nothing had happened, and seeing as she was moved for her protection, assuming Carter wasn't lying, she was starting to believe she might just be safe.

Maybe she was overreacting in all this. Maybe if she'd just be patient and wait, she'd soon be let out of this cell and allowed to return home.

She hoped anyway. Regardless, she was stuck here, forced to wait. She just hoped the wait wouldn't be a long one. The skies would let loose a hell of a snowstorm soon, and she could tell by how the skies looked lately, it would indeed be a bad one. But that's why she had wanted to get the horses back, before that happened. She knew they'd find their way back on their own, if they were alright anyway, but the storm itself could kill them before they got the chance.

Again she sighed, draping her right arm over her eyes as she closed them. She figured it was best to just try to get back to sleep, time would pass much faster that way anyway.

It wasn't taking her long to slowly start to drift off, both boredom and exhaustion combining to bully her into the dark abyss.

Alas, it didn't seem like sleep was meant to be as she heard loud shuffling from over head, followed by a few loud bangs. It didn't take her long to get back to her feet after that, knowing something was very wrong above her.

Little more than a minute later, Carter came tumbling down the stairs, grunting as he met hard with the cement floor. He tried his best to force himself to his feet, but he was quickly forced down by a foot to the back of his head.

He struggled against the force holding him there, clearly in greater pain as the moments passed and the foot on his head was pushed down with further force.

“So this is where the old geezer has been hanging out huh?” A voice from above echoed.

Not long after, Chris and two other men appeared at the foot of the stairs, stopping near Carters prone form.

“Well well, so this is where they've been keeping you.”

“Come anywhere near me asshole and I'll make sure it's the last thing you ever fucking do.”

“Is that a fact? Well, way I see it, that'd be kind of hard considering where you're at right at this moment girl.”

“What happened to your face? Dip into some battery acid or something? If you were trying to improve your looks you failed miserably.”

“I'd watch your fucking mouth girl if you know what's good for you. What happens to you at this moment depends on me.”

“Don't fucking touch her...” Carter grunted from his place on the floor, trying his best to glare up at Chris but failing as pain took him over again.

“Well would you look at that, kids grown a pair. Too bad it's too little too late.”

“Asshole...”

“Jack? Head back upstairs, if the old geezer comes back, kill him.”

“You got it boss.”

Chris continued after the other had made his way up the stairs.

“Now, the question lingering in the air now is, just what am I going to do with you girl? You have been nothing but a pain since we found you, and a smart man would just kill you out right. Last thing I need is for you to get loose and start kicking like a goddamn mule again.”

“You're lucky all I did was kick.”

“That girl, was a cheap shot back there, something you won't be able to do again.”

“Dammit Chris! Leave her alone! You brought it on yourself to begin with, don't blame her for defending herself!”

“And you...” Chris started as he turned his attention back to Carter. “You threw your lot in with the wrong crowd boy. See, soon enough I'm gonna have complete control over this operation, and a whole lot is gonna change around here. You could have just chosen to transition, become something better. Instead you threw your lot in with a withering old man who can't forget his past. It's gonna cost both of you now.”

He was interrupted by a thud upstairs, followed quickly by a few gunshots.

“Goddamn it, he could be a little more quiet if he's gonna take anyone out, he's gonna draw attention at this rate. Gabe? Go check on him.” 

The other quickly nodded before heading back upstairs, leaving Chris and his other partner to deal with things down there.

“Looks like more than you have a lot to learn Carter. Gonna have to re-work the whole training method when I take over.”

“Like you're actually going to be able to pull that off. You really think everyone's gonna follow you? You're nuts! And everyone knows it! These guys are only following you cause they got something they want to gain from it, but I bet not one of them would help you in a scrape!”

“Boy, you are testing my patience...”

Another crash from above drew everyone’s attention upwards.

“What the hell is going on up there...?”

His answer came quickly as Gabe came flying down the stairs, landing hard on his back. Moments later an infected followed, jumping down and landing on the prone man, instantly tearing away at him.

“Holy shit!” The remaining man yelled, pulling his foot from Carter's head and reaching for his gun.

He wasn't quick enough though as the infected, a runner, turned it's head towards him and quickly dashed at him, knocking him to the ground.

In the commotion his gun went off, just barely missing the side of Chris' face, but alerting other infected upstairs. Their screams intensified as they ran for the stairwell.

“Fuck this...” Chris yelled as he darted quickly up the stairs, hoping to get by the infected before they blocked his way out.

Carter and Ellie were now left alone, a runner mere feet away chewing on the other man. 

“Carter! Get me the fuck out of here or we're both dead!”

He remained frozen as the sounds of the approaching infected grew nearer, only even remotely turning his head as Ellie's yelling called the attention of the infected chewing on the other mans face.

“Grab the fucking gun!”

Shaking himself free of his momentary paralysis, Carter got up and darted for the gun, grabbing it and whipping around just in time to shoot the infected in the face.

“Now get me out! Come on!”

He nodded quickly, slipping the gun in his waistband as he quickly moved over to the cage, jumbling with the keys as he tried to pull them from his belt and find the right one.

“Hurry the fuck up!”

“I'm trying!”

“Trying's not good enough, they'll be here any second!”

At last he found the right key and slipped it in the lock, turning it just as the infected came piling down the stairs.

“Shit!” 

He yanked the lock off just as the first infected reached him. But Ellie shoved the door open, sending him to the side and to the floor as it opened. She quickly grabbed hold of the infected's head and yanked it to the side, slipping her foot across it's feet and sending it crashing to the floor. She quickly stomped on it's head a few times till it smashed into pieces.

“Get Up!”

Before he could oblige, she had made her way over and grabbed his arm, yanking him to his feet.

“Is there another way out of here!?”

“Yeah, this way, quick!”

They ran for a far wall as more of the infected poured in, each bearing down on them. But Carter was already shoving a wooden crate away from the wall, revealing a hole that had been dug into it.

“Get in! Go!” 

He shoved her through first before quickly scrambling after, just getting in as an infected reached their position and dove for him, grabbing his ankle.

“Fuck!”

He used his other foot to kick it in the face but the infected was persistent and refused to let go.

He felt his waistband being pulled at that moment and before he could react, he saw a gun appear just above his head.

“Cover your fucking ears!”

He did so just as the gun went off three times mere inches from his face, the infected falling limp soon after.

“Fuck!”

He turned to see her shaking her head, the small space having caused the gunshots to more than triple in sound. He knew damn well, that for now, she was probably good and deaf. He suddenly realized he was probably their only ears.

He pushed on her arm as more and more infected started trying to push over the corpse and get into the hole.

It took her a few moments as she was still dazed from the gunshots, but eventually she pushed forward, Carter keeping pace close behind.

Soon the sounds of the snarling infected lessened to a mere muffle as they emerged far from the house and into an old shed.

Carter went to the door straight away, slowly opening it to check that their surrounds were safe. For the moment, it seemed to be.

“We have to move now if we want to avoid any more trouble...”

But as he turned to look back at her, he saw her sitting against a wall, desperately knocking at her ears.

“Hey...” He knelt by her, carefully taking hold of her arm.

She responded by shoving the gun right in his face.

“Whoa!”

“...” She quickly pulled the gun back as she realized it was him. “Sorry.” She said loudly, overcompensating her voice since she couldn't hear herself talk.

Carter just put a finger to his lips, showing her she was speaking too loudly. She quickly shut her mouth.

He took two fingers and pointed at his eyes before pointing to the door, followed by making a circle with his thumb and index finger, showing her he saw nothing out there.

She nodded and got to her feet, looking through the crack in the door herself, trying to find a safe place for them until she could hear again. Seeing a sturdier brick building, she reached back and pulled on Carter's arm, pointing at it.

“Yeah, that should be safe enough for now, as long as we're quiet getting there...” He quickly nodded to her after, forgetting again that she didn't hear a damn thing he said.

After one more check, they quickly made their way from the shed and towards the safety of the brick structure.

 

Hours had passed since their escape from the safe house and neither had been able to get any sleep. From time to time Carter could hear infected passing by the house, either talking in some garbled way or screeching. And in more terrifying instances, clicking. For at least two hours he alone had to deal with it, until Ellie's hearing started coming back.

They talked for a bit, quietly, in which time she finally decided to tell him her name. He'd more than proven himself after all.

For some time afterward though, they sat in silence in the dark, the room lit only with a single lantern. Ellie's eyes never left Carter's form though. It wasn't that she still didn't trust him, she did in fact, but she was worried about him nonetheless. She'd seen how assertive he could actually be yet he repeatedly reigned it back, like he was afraid. Normally she'd let him keep his secrets, but in light of things being as they were, she needed to make sure anything that could hinder their survival was out in the forefront. 

“Carter?”

“...hm?”

“You doing ok?”

“Considering the circumstances? I guess.”

“Circumstances aside. I saw how you acted in the basement, you challenged Chris. So why do you...act like a dog that's been kicked too many times?”

For a while he said nothing, leaving Ellie to wonder if he was going to answer at all. But then he let out a long sigh and looked over to her.

“Because I use to make decisions. And one day...I made a very bad one. It was just me and my family, and dad liked it best that way. We ran with no one and he let no one run with us. He always said, only ones you can trust are your own blood. We were surviving, so who were we to complain? But then...one winter we ran dangerously low on food, and dad went hunting, said he'd find us something. But he was gone for days, and we were wondering if something happened to him...and honestly, we couldn't wait much longer. We were starving. So as the man left in charge...or as much of a man a fifteen year old could be at the time...I made a choice. We'd scavenge a town...”

“...and it didn't end well...” It wasn't a question but a statement. Everyone knew towns and cities were the worst places to go, but sometimes there was no other choice.

“...yeah. Me, mom, and my little brother and sister. They were both ten, twins, heh...they shouldn't have been there but...wouldn't have been safe to leave them alone either...”

She said nothing, just letting him choose whether or not to continue. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened next.

“...we ran into hunters...as I should have expected. They killed my little brother and sister right of...saying they were annoying them with their crying...and mom...I won't go into that...but...I was the last one left. Now, had I been there alone...at my age they may have considered letting me join them, but after what they just did to my family...they knew that's as good as letting the wolves with the sheep. I'm only alive cause all the commotion alerted a bunch of infected...they all got torn apart...”

“...I'm sorry Carter...”

“I don't get it. Those men had to of had family at some point. Hell, good lot of them were old enough to have seen what this world looked like before shit hit the fan, how can they do things like that to people? They wouldn't let anyone...do that to their families...but every one else is fair game? That's bullshit...and survival is no excuse here...”

“It's been over twenty years since things went down...and nothings changed. People become cold...desensitized...whether or not they ever had family wouldn't matter. Getting close to people...caring...that's just another possibility for heartache. And for others...they just grew to love what they do, and there's no law anymore to stop them. I bet if the world ever did find it's feet again...it'd be a hell of a battle to get order back. And anyone caught doing what their doing now...doubt jails waiting for them, just a ditch with hundreds more like them...”

“And they all deserve that fate...”

“I totally agree with you there.”

They went silent again for quite sometime, Carter eventually laying down and attempting to sleep while Ellie got up to look out a half boarded up window.

It was really too dark to see much out there but, you could tell where there was life in the city and where there wasn't. It wasn't lit up like a Christmas tree but, you could see the lights from the center of town, signifying where the bandits inhabited. With as many infected that seemed to be running around, they must have been doing a damn good job keeping them away from their part of town.

Considering the light she could see was electrical and not fires, they must have had quite a few generators, which meant quite a bit of fuel. Though where they were getting it she could only guess.

Her mind ran wild as she stood in silence, staring into the night. Listening to what Carter had said about the hunters he had ran into, made her wonder about Joel's experience with them. She knew he had become one of those cold men, but judging by his reaction whenever Sarah had been brought up, she doubted he did everything they did. He couldn't see him killing children, or doing unthinkable things to women. But after traveling with him, she saw first hand what he was more than willing to do to men. The techniques she saw, were no doubt used on survivors, people that didn't deserve to die. But, Joel didn't like to discuss those days, so she took comfort in knowing he probably was not proud of what he had done.

A gunshot in the distance drew her attention, along with Carter's. He was on his feet in seconds and standing next to her shortly after. A few more followed, accompanied with frantic shouting.

“Guess your friends found out about the infected.”

“They usually just keep the perimeter swept around the main drag, they don't really come out this far.”

“Thus why there's so many infected out here?”

“Yeah. Clearing the town and keeping it clean was just too much work, so they just cordoned it off.”

“So...what are they doing out this far then?”

“Maybe more of Chris' men...god I hope it's not. But there's no other reason for people to be out this far, we already did a supply check this week.”

“Maybe it's your buddy then?”

“Bradson? Maybe. But if it is...he's gonna have a hell of a time cutting his way through. We check for supplies out this way but, we don't go certain places, or too far in. Means we could have an entire range of infected out here, from the ragers to the fat ones.”

“Ragers? Fat ones? Guess different areas name them different things sometimes.”

“What do you call them?”

“Runners, then stalkers, clickers, and finally bloaters.”

“Huh. Kinda like those names better.”

Another shot went off, closer this time.

“What do you think man? Should we move?”

“...uh...I think you should make that decision Ellie...”

“Carter...I know things went really shitty last time you made a decision, but you can't not make one. You can't expect for there to always be someone there for you...calling the shots...”

“You don't understand...I got out of that hell hole, my family didn't. And dad? He was alright, just got held up by bandits. When he found out what happened...he tried to fucking kill me. My own dad...”

“...well he was a shitty dad. Carter...that was the worst thing that could happen to anyone but, you can't just...give up. Not acting...is as bad as making a wrong decision. It doesn't matter if you do something or not, people can still get hurt both ways...”

“...no one knows we're here...I think we can hold out a little longer. Besides, it's too dark to see anything out there, and the lantern will just attract unwanted attention if the wrong people are looking for us. If it is Bradson...we have another safe house where he said to meet up if things went bad...we'll make our way there once it's light enough...”

She grinned at him, causing him to shift a bit uncomfortably.

“What…?”

“See? Not so hard making a decision is it?”

She moved away from the window at that point, taking a seat by the lantern.

“What are you here for anyway? I mean...I'm guessing your from the wall town, only other place for miles. No way you needed supplies.”

“I didn't. Two of our horses got away, I wanted to look for them.”

“...you took a risk for a couple of horses?”

“My favorite horse is one of them, and yes, I would risk it. They're part of our group, even if they are animals. Don't see why that should make a difference, they still have to struggle to survive too.”

“Fair enough.” He said as he walked back over, taking a seat by her. “That the only reason though?”

“What other reason would there be?”

“Hey, you wanted me to trust you with telling you something about myself, least you can do is return the favor.”

She let out a long sigh, drawing her knees up under her chin and laying said chin on them, wrapping her arms around her legs.

“I got in a fight with someone who's taking care of me...he's a dad to me, basically...but he lied to me...and it was a big one. I got mad and took off to look for the horses without telling anyone...I needed to cool off a bit. Obviously...I wasn't thinking right...”

“Oh, I see. And...are you still mad at him?”

“...no...I get why things went the way they did. I just...I want to go home...say I'm sorry...I know he's losing his mind right now...”

“...we'll do what we can to get you back home...promise...”

“You know...you could come with us...you don't have to stay here, and I know Tommy would welcome you.”

“Tommy?”

“My uncle...kind of...it's complicated really...when you haven't once call the people who are basically family...well...family...”

Carter chuckled a bit, letting the first smile in a while to slip.

“I'm sure Bradson would be ok with that. Might just take you up on that. Rather work for what we have than take what we have...”

“Good. It's decided then.”

He nodded, letting his smile grow a bit wider.

And then the gunshots started again, this time just outside the window, one after the other. And worse...the screams of multiple infected followed.

“Shit...” Carter mumbled.

“And things...just got a whole lot worse...” Ellie said as she pulled out the gun. “Get ready, in case one or the other comes running in here.”

Again he nodded. And they didn't have to wait long. Soon after...the front door burst open, and soon the house was filled with the shouts of both humans and infected. Ellie and Carter looked at each other, they were trapped, the way out blocked by a battle between man and infected.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With danger lingering mere feet away from both Ellie and Carter, they have to make the decision to fight it out, or risk running through the fight to escape. And even if they do escape, a whole city of angry bandits and infected await them. So what exactly is it that they should do?

They both stood staring at the doorway as the scuffle ensued in the room over, screeching intensifying as more infected streamed into the house.

The house became a deafening, overpowering source of sound as screeches and screams intermingled with gunfire as the battle for survival ensued.

Ellie kept the barrel of the gun aimed at the doorway, ready to shoot whoever or whatever came through the doorway first. Behind her, Carter struggled to find something of substance to use as a weapon for himself, knowing there was no way Ellie could carry on protecting both of them with both infected and humans to contend with.

Just as he pulled a broken board from a pile of ruble, a gunshot went off behind him, much closer. He turned around to see Ellie had taken out a runner, the body already on the floor and laying in a pool of it's own blood.

The gunfire attracted the others to their presence now, and half the group of infected now struggled to force their way through gunfire and other infected to get to them. But this had also attracted the attention of the humans who had entered and they too turned their attention to the room behind them, torn between shooting what was in front of them, and who was behind them.

Beyond shooting the one that lay before them, Ellie made no other effort to shoot another, choosing instead to let the group fight it out amongst themselves. She'd used the tactic once before and it was the best way to conserve ammo and buy yourself time to bug out, which was her plan at the moment.

“Come on Carter! We're getting the hell out of here! How far is it to this other safe house?”

“Uh...half hour tops...it's a bit of a walk...”

“Which we'll have to assume will be two to three times that since we have to deal with infected and your other buddies. But I guess we don't really have another choice here.”

“How are we getting out of here though? There's nothing behind us, our way out is through that.” He said, pointing to the chaos before them.

“We're going through, so do your best to keep all your limbs in check, and keep the infected between you and your buddies.”

“Ellie...”

“Carter! We do this or we die here! There's no other option! We got nothing to yank those planks off the window with! It's the only way!”

He stared at her for a moment, jaw clenching in frustration as he desperately tried to come up with another option. But he knew she was right, going through was the only way out. If they didn't...well one or the other would get them, and at least this way if they died, then they died trying.

His only answer to her was a nod as he tightened his grip on the board he had found, waiting for her cue to move forward.

This came after she took a few deep breaths and then shouted for him to run. He did so, staying close to her as they jumped over the corpse of the infected she had taken down, and into the next room. It was like jumping straight into a war zone, which essentially it was. The sounds were even more deafening as they were mere inches from their ears, arms reached for them, bullets whizzed by them, at any moment they could be killed.

But somehow they emerged from the group of flailing arms and jumped through the doorway outside, nearly stumbling as they tripped down the small set of steps. 

Bullets continued to whiz by as a few more men had showed up, firing as they rounded the side of the building, still others going in to try to help their friends.

But during all this, neither Ellie nor Carter stopped, they just pushed forward, trying to put as much space between them and the bloodshed as they could.

There was little they could do about that though, as the sounds of gunfire alerted everyone and everything. The city was more alive now than it had been in ages, with bandits all over, scouring every inch of it, and infected hunting anyone who crossed their path. This, was the definition of a nightmare, one of the main reasons you stay the fuck out of cities unless absolutely necessary. And they were now stuck in the middle of this mess, with no end in sight.

Carter yanked on her arm suddenly, leading her down a narrow alleyway and away from the primary location of the fighting. It was a little out of the way from where they had to go but, they needed to get everyone off their tail first, and they needed to regroup themselves a little as well.

“We're gonna have to go around, they're crawling all over the streets we need to use.”

“Guess we don't have much of a choice. But with this mess going on out here, are you sure Bradson will even make it to the safe house?”

“Guess we'll just have to wait and see. He's a tough guy, I'm sure he'll figure something out.”

“You two are pretty close, huh?”

“...he refused to give up on me, even though I had given up on myself...”

“I get that. Things happen after all, especially in a world like this. Gotta...find something to keep fighting for I guess...”

“...pretty much. It makes the old man happy to have me around...I like seeing him happy, with all he's been through. Guess...my situations kinda like yours.”

“Hm?”

“He's like a dad to me...even if we never say it.”

She only nodded at that, going quiet again as she thought about Joel freaking out somewhere.

“Hey? You ok?”

“Hm? Yeah. Just...it's gonna be rough getting to that safe house of yours with this city as active as it is now. I'm nearly out of ammo here, and hand to hand fighting everything and everyone won't do. Do you know of a safer way to get there?”

“Could go underground and take the sewer?”

“Oh please god no. No sewers...had a bad experience with that a couple years back...plus they quite literally smell like shit.”

“Hm...well...not really sure of many other places, I really don't know all that much about this place beyond where I've been to. I'd say stick to the alleys but...if we get overrun there won't be much of an escape route.”

“If the roofs were flatter we could travel on them.”

“Yeah, that would work if we were downtown, not out here though. Guess we'll just have to stay quiet and low.”

She nodded, tucking the hand gun away in her waistband and instead reaching for a lead pipe in a pile of junk.

“Well, let's keep moving then.”

He lead her forward down the alleyway, passing overturned trash cans and piles of debris that had fallen from roofs or caved in walls.

They would both anxiously look up and down the streets any time they would have to cross them to get to another alleyway, leaving themselves in plain view of whoever or whatever might be passing through the area. So far the most they encountered were a few scampering creatures and some wild dogs. Though during one such encounter with wildlife, they were scared to death when an elk suddenly ran across the street.

But for the most part the area they were traversing seemed to be quiet and devoid of anything too dangerous.

The darkness itself was an enemy in it's own right, not just because it hid dangers, but because it made everything downright creepy. Without the aid of any kind of moonlight, everything stayed in a constant, thick blackness. The houses loomed over them like a giant looming over its prey, the hulking skeletal forms of the ones that had fallen apart adding to the creepiness of the atmosphere.

Other houses stood, though barely in some instances, each covered in dirt or whatever was blown at them or settled on them over time. Trees growing up around them and in some cases, through them even. Vines ran up walls, piercing the windows in some buildings, or just covering whole sides of houses in a blanket of green.

Soon, they ran out of alleys to traverse and they were forced to the main roads or yards of the houses, pushing their way through long overgrown grass or cracked streets with various weeds and other plants growing up through them.

Ellie couldn't imagine a world that didn't look like this, though she had help with pictures she'd seen during her travels. It was hard to swallow that this world use to look uniform and clean, cars carrying people to and from work or school.

Now most cars were abandoned and left to rust and rot in the streets, only a small few able to run anymore. Each vehicle adding to the chaos the world had fallen into, and each also being reclaimed by the planet like everything else in the world.

Every house they passed looked the same, over grown with either broken windows or boarded up ones. And more than a few had various forms of writing on them from the early days of the outbreak, each reminding her of the outskirts of Pittsburgh, threatening to shoot anyone on sight. Some though, bolstered claims that this was the end times and all should repent.

Ellie had no idea what that was all about. Apparently, from what little Joel had told her once, some people were more than a little obsessed with the end of the world, and every year they would call out a new date for it.

Well, although it sure did look like the end times, it most obviously wasn't. The world was still spinning and people were still surviving. So she chalked it up to what Joel himself called them, a bunch off kooks.

“Ellie? Hey? Earth to Ellie?”

“Hm? What?”

“Jeeze, what world did you escape to? Called your name a couple times now.”

“Sorry...”

“Look.” Carter said as he pointed skyward.

As Ellie followed his finger, she realized something she would have had she not been lost in her own little world, it had started to snow. The wind around them was picking up quite a bit as well, another telltale sign of things to come.

“We can't stay out here much longer Ellie, you know how quickly this shit can go bad.”

“Are we anywhere near the safe house?”

“Not even. It's more towards the other end of town.”

“Dammit...most these houses don't look stable enough to use to hide from a snowstorm, we'll freeze to death.”

“Well, we might have to keep them as an option, because if we don't get there relatively quickly, we'll have to use one, or we'll die for sure.”

Their discussion was cut short as a garbage can somewhere nearby fell over, hitting the ground with a loud clang in the silence of the night.   
Both Ellie and Carter froze, resembling deer caught in the headlights as they listened for any other sound.

For a long time there was nothing, leaving them to wonder if some animal had caught them off guard again. That is until a runner came barreling around a corner, and then another, and another. Till a swarm of infected had appeared and were racing towards them.

“RUN!” Carter yelled as he yanked on her arm, urging her forward. She quickly followed suit and the two tore off down the street, cutting through yards where they were able to. But the whole time the infected stayed right on them, screaming and snarling.

Carter yelled out as he rounded the corner of one house, running smack into a clicker. His eyes went wide as he threw his arm up in instinct, planting it just under the clicker's chin as he tried desperately to push it back.

“Carter!” Ellie yelled as she caught up with him, moving behind the clicker and smashing it in the back of the head.

It screeched and turned on her, arms flailing as it reached for her, screeching and clicking the whole time.

She quickly swung at it a few more times until it's head exploded into chunks of brain matter, it's body falling to the ground.

“Carter! Behind you!”

He swung around as a stalker bore down on him, but this time he was prepared enough to raise the board he had acquired, swinging it until the stalker went down into a bloody heap.

“We have to move!” Ellie yelled as she started to move forward, Carter nodding and following close behind.

They pushed themselves as hard as they could, trying their best to stay on their feet as the snow falling around them began to accumulate on the ground, causing them to slip with almost every step. Of course, that also meant the infected chasing them were also having a rough time of it and before long they were putting quite a bit of distance between them and the infected.

They slowed up a bit once they felt like they were out of harms way, trying desperately to catch their breath.

“Fuck...didn't know...there were so many of them...in this town...” Carter said between breaths.

“Those fuckers can sure hide when they want to, guess not just the stalkers do that.”

“That's gonna...cause us some problems...”

“We can add that...to the list of problems then. For now...which way do we go?”

“We go straight on that way...we're actually almost there. Guess all that running...did us some good...”

“Let's move then, I wanna be able to see where I'm going, and this snows not gonna let that be the case soon.”

“Right, come on.”

They pushed onward again, both still trying to catch their breaths, the icy cold of the air stinging at their lungs with each intake. It made each breath more and more painful to take. But soon they'd be out of the cold and able to get their barrings straight, as well as stock up on some weapons while they waited to see if Bradson would find his way to them. But with this storm pushing in, Carter was starting to wonder if the old man would make it. He might just end up holing up somewhere in town, and with Chris on the rampage like he was, assuming he was still alive that is, that would make things very difficult for the older man.

Just as the snow was starting to grow thicker, both in the air and on the ground, the house came into view.

Carter pointed to it as he motioned Ellie along with his other hand, hurrying her towards the welcoming building. Course to him at this moment, a dumpster would look welcoming if it got him out of the elements for a bit.

Instead of going through the front, Carter lead her around the back, crawling over the half collapsed wooden fence and entering the back yard.

The yard was littered with your usual assortment of items, old rusting push mower, what remained of some children's play equipment, a doghouse and a shed off to the corner. A good portion of the yard was also taken over by debris though, as the wall of the house in the yard over had collapsed and settled in the yard.

The house they were about to take shelter in wasn't in any better shape, but it sure looked more stable then it's neighbor. Again the windows were boarded up, though with more care seeing as this house was in at least somewhat moderate use. Green vines stretched up the wall and disappeared on the roof above.

Carter poked her shoulder to draw her attention back to him, pointing to a board on the ground that was rapidly being covered.

“Help me with this?”

She nodded and walked over, taking a corner while he took the other, both lifting the surprisingly heavy board.

Beneath it was a hole that lead into complete darkness, though it's likely exit was in the basement somewhere.

“Ladies first.”

“Lady huh? Have dinner with us once and you'll see how much of a lady I really am.”

He chuckled at that as she made her way slowly down, being cautious since she couldn't see much of anything.

Carter followed soon after, the board landing down behind him with a thud as it slammed back to earth.

Ellie hissed as Carter rather unceremoniously crashed into her back feet first, shoving her forward and to the floor.

“Shit. Sorry Ellie.” He said as he moved forward, reaching around in the darkness till he found her and helped her up.

“It's fine. Had worse happen after all.”

“I'm sure you have.”

She could hear him moving around in the darkness, followed by some pretty colorful language as he crashed into one thing or another. Seriously, some of the things coming out of his mouth almost made her proud he could even come up with the likes of those words.

But soon she heard him exclaim as he celebrated the fact he had found what he was looking for, and soon the room was lit up in the flickering glow from the lamp he found.

“You need to keep a flashlight on you or something man, or you're really gonna hurt yourself.”

“I...keep misplacing the damn thing...”

“...how do you function in this world?”

“Precariously.” He answered her with a chuckle, leading her upstairs.

It took him a couple good shoves when they got to the top of the stairs but, he managed to finally get the door pushed open, causing the debris behind it to crash to the floor.

“Shit...”

“Everything's against us today.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

He pushed some of the debris out of the way with his foot as he stepped into the room above, followed by Ellie.

They were in a hallway, the hallway itself a pretty good size, or at least it would have been if it wasn't for the junk blocking it. There was plaster and busted lamps, a mangled chair here and there, along with bits of insulation that had some how survived the ravages of time, though their days looked numbered.

The left side of the hallway lead to what Ellie assumed to be the kitchen, except she couldn't see much of it, as the ceiling had caved in on that side. The right end of the hallway lead to an open, but no less junk ridden, room. More than likely the living room.

“Ah damn...guess this place isn't gonna hold up much longer...” Carter mumbled.

“Where were the weapons?”

“Not upstairs luckily. There's a closet this way, Bradson has them behind a fake wall.”

They ever so carefully made their way over the piles of miscellaneous objects as they tried to get into the living room, both nearly falling a couple times.

“I'm gonna guess this place didn't look like this before?”

“No. It's possible someone may have been digging around in here...”

“...but you're sure the guns are still here?”

“Unless you know what you're looking for, there's no way anyone should have found them. So I'm pretty sure they're still safe.”

A loud creaking stopped them both in their tracks and they both turned their heads sharply towards where the sound emanated from.

At first all they could really see was darkness, until Carter raised the lantern higher.

“Oh fuck!”

The lantern fell to the floor, as did he, as he was tackled by a man about the same age as him, both hitting the floor hard and causing various objects in the house to rattle.

“Shit! Carter!”

“Greg! Get off me man!”

“Chris was right about you, fucking traitor!”

“Let me fucking explain you idiot!”

The other man didn't give him much of a chance to do anything as he balled up his fist and brought it down hard on Carter's jaw, a popping sound fallowing soon after as well as a yell of pain from Carter.

“What the fuck are you doing helping her!?”

Carter couldn't answer even if he wanted to, his jaw pounding at the joint where it dislocated from.

“Get off him asshole!”

Ellie rushed at him, brandishing her pipe, but she didn't get anywhere near him. The growling from the left was all the warning she got before a large dog slammed into her, jaws lashing at her as soon as they hit the floor.

She managed to push it back enough to get the pipe up, holding it there as the dog chomped down viciously on it, mere inches from her face.

“Son of a...”

Carter grunted from his spot some feet away from her, using all the strength he had to push Greg off him a bit before smashing him in the face, sending him backwards.

But before he even had a chance to get to his feet, Greg was on him again, smashing his face into the floor and causing him further, agonizing pain.

Carter squirmed as best he could till his left arm was freed just enough to bend it backwards, elbowing Greg in the lower ribs.

The other man yelped in pain as he released his grip just long enough for Carter to push himself up, forcing Greg off his back as he did so.

Knowing he had no chance of helping Ellie while Greg was still mobile, Carter jumped up and crashed into Greg, slamming him into the wall behind and putting a fairly good sized hole in the failing wall as well.

Greg did little in the way of retaliation as he was partially stuck in the wall.

Carter took the opportunity to start laying punch after punch into Greg's face and gut, doing as much damage as he could to keep him immobile.

Behind him on the floor, Ellie was still struggling with the fairly large German Shepherd looking dog, though the size made her suspicious that there was wolf in there somewhere, making her situation very dangerous.

The dog had yet to release it's grip on the pipe, it's claws digging into Ellie's shoulders as it occasionally scratched at her in an attempt to do more damage.

But she was growing tired, her arms aching as the weight of the animal was becoming too much for her. With each second that passed, the dogs muzzle grew closer and closer to her face. In a short time, it's jaws would be in striking range and she was sure there would be nothing she could do about it, the pipe was slipping from her grip.

She tried to bring her legs up in an attempt to push the dog off her, but each time she tried the dog would shift it's back legs and plant them firmly on hers, forbidding her from doing so.

She closed her eyes just as her hands slipped from the pipe, cringing as she waited for the dog to clamp down on her.

But instead she heard a clanging sound followed by a high pitched yelp. There were a few more clangs before the dog went quiet and she very slowly opened her eyes, assuming Carter had somehow gotten to her. But as she opened her eyes, she saw the dog bloody and cowering in a corner, Carter too far from it to have been the one to do the damage. He was still by the far wall, standing over a bloody Greg but not looking at him. He was looking at a taller man who stood a few feet from them, gun trained on Greg.

Looking back towards the dog, she saw another man standing there, pipe in hand and looming over the injured dog.

During the fight, the fallen lantern had caught some of the debris on fire, casting light throughout the room. And so once the dancing shadows quit playing tricks on her eyes, she could see just who her savior had been.

“...Joel?”

“...baby girl...”

He dropped the pipe and limped over to her, kneeling painfully as he took her into his arms, hugging her tightly.

For a moment she was in a bit of shock, just sitting there with wide eyes. But then she wrapped her arms around him, holding onto him just as tightly as she laid her head on his shoulders.

“Joel...”

“We gotta quit finding each other like this kiddo, situations like this I mean...”

“...I'm sorry Joel...I shouldn't have...”

“Don't. Not your fault. I shoulda' told you from the start, then maybe none of this would have happened.”

“...you're hurt...”

“Eh. Just a bit banged up. I'll be ok. Right now, we gotta get the hell outta here. Reckon the infected heard everything going on here, not to mention the building fire's gonna attract attention.”

Carter watched on, confused at first what was playing out before him. But after he remembered what Ellie had told him earlier, he knew what was going on.

He yelped as a hand very suddenly appeared and snapped his jaw back into place, earning the offending person a glare from him.

“Your welcome.” Bradson said as he knelt down, checking over Greg.

“So that guys...”

“Yup. He came to find his little girl, nothing more. Though judging by how you two seemed to have handled things here...don't think I could call either of you little.”

“...I might have went a bit overboard...”

“You did what you had to. Besides, he's not too bad off, he'll live.”

“...good. Last thing I wanted was to kill a friend...”

“Hn. Don't think he had a problem killing a friend.”

Bradson poked at the other man now, drawing the darker haired boys attention. His face already bruising and swelling to a point where his actual features were being covered by them.

“Now Greg, these are your options. You follow us, keep you hands to yourself, and I'll let you off by the nearest group we see. You wander off to them and keep your mouth shut and you'll be fine. Now, if you choose to fuck with any of us instead, or try to alert them to our presence...I'll put you down real quick. So what'll it be?”

“...I'll stay quiet...”

“Good boy. Now leash up your dog over there, and hold him tight. He lunges at any of us again and I'll have Joel there finish what he started with him, got it?”

“Got it...” He mumbled as he got up and made his way over to the dog.

“Well Joel, if you two are ready to go, we'll grab the weapons and make our way out.”

“Yeah, sure Bradson.”

The old man nodded and made his way over to the closet, pulling out the fake wall and grabbing the guns.

“Here.” Joel said as he reached around and pulled his pack off, removing hers as well and giving it to her.

“Thanks.” She said as she quickly dug through it, making sure everything was there.  
Relieved when she found everything was, she zipped it back up and slipped it on her back, slipping her blade into her back pocket. “I'm ready.”

“Bradson?”

“Yup.” He walked over and handed everyone, except Greg, guns and ammo. “We have to move quick. I'm pretty sure the infected have been slowed quite a bit but Chris and his men won't be. So we have to keep moving.”

Joel nodded and pushed himself up slowly, wincing again.

“...are you sure you'll be ok Joel?”

“Don't worry about me Ellie, you know I'm built like a rock.”

“You got your cracks though...”

“...we all do. But I'll be fine now that I know you're ok, so let's haul ass and get out of here.”

She nodded and followed as they made their way for the door, Bradson kicking it open and moving out with his hunting rifle out in front of him.

“Alright everyone, here we go.”

And with that the group made their way out into the storm and into the night, knowing very well that they would not get out of this town without a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too much to say here today, just hope you enjoyed yet another chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With everything and everyone on their tails, and the snow practically blinding them and making every move difficult, they are forced the one place they didn't want to go. Underground. Does the darkness hold salvation, or hell?

The dead city had come to life with the sounds of infected and gunshots, and no matter where they ran they seemed to run into one or the other. 

There had been little time to talk about what they both faced while being in the town, in fact they had very little time to even catch their breath. They were running, and fighting, and shooting, but it felt like they were making very little headway.

Ellie and Carter were at the lead now, being the first in every encounter and in some cases, finishing the job before Joel and Bradson even caught up. Bradson didn't seem to care much, he was an older man and thus accepted that he wasn't going to keep up as well anymore. But Joel was not okay with it. He was older yes, and he felt every inch of his age at times, but he was no where near debilitated. It was this dumb leg of his, it was slowing him up and he hated it. He hated not being right up there with Ellie, keeping her safe.

Or maybe that's not what he really hated. As he dragged himself along behind them, he saw every little thing Ellie did. How she swore and growled when she took down an infected or a human. The slight changes on her face that showed the extent of her aggravation, very little of the fear showing through at all anymore. She was growing up and growing stronger, and in that moment, he felt like maybe she didn't really need him as much anymore, if at all. And it scared him.

She was looking at him now, brows furrowed and screaming something at him. He didn't quite hear it at first, his mind still lost somewhere in his thoughts. Thoughts that were in the very wrong place and time to be doing what they were. So by the time he'd finally registered the words, and pulled his gun up as he turned, ready to fire...the infected behind him was already falling backwards, blood gurgling in it's throat.

He looked back over his shoulder, seeing Ellie with her gun raised, the barrel still smoking in the cold air. He never even heard the gun fire, nor did he feel the bullet as it passed inches from his face, not that he could in the snowstorm anyway.

“What the fuck Joel!? Keep it the fuck together!”

He said nothing to her, just lowering his gun as his shoulders slumped slightly. He looked like a child having been scolded at, hell, he felt like a child having been scolded at. It actually hurt him a bit to be yelled at by her. She was further emphasizing his fears, that she could do just fine on her own.

“...sorry.” He said at last. “Can't hear shit in this storm.” 

He moved forward after that, pushing passed them all as he raised his gun again, trying his best to take point and push himself despite his bum leg. He knew, somewhere deep down, that more than likely this leg would not heal well, and he wasn't sure he cared much anymore. He didn't think he could do much more of what they were doing now anyway.

“Joel! Duck in this building here! It's got some tunnels we can use so we can get out if this for a bit.” Bradson called up to him.

“Are you sure we should Bradson?” Carter asked, not keen on going underground.

“I keep that place clear myself, it's safe.”

Joel moved on inside without a word, carefully checking his corners after he pushed the door open.

It looked to be some kind of old factory, a lot of the machinery inside rusted beyond repair or picked apart by people looking for scrap for buildings or weapons.

“Joel, over here.” Bradson said as he crossed the room, waving his hand as he did so.

Joel followed, Ellie and Carter close behind him.

Bradson lead them to the far back of the room, towards a rusted metal door. It screeched as he pulled it open, revealing darkness within.

“Alright, flashlights on. Unless you want to break you necks.”

He switched his on and started down the stairs, the others close behind.

“Hey...Joel?”

“Hm?”

“You really didn't hear that runner behind you?”

“We were out in a snowstorm Ellie, course I couldn't hear it.”

“Just...being sure you weren't loosing your hearing or something...”

“...that'll come with time I'm sure, but that's not what happened back there.”

“Just making sure you're...”

“You don't need to worry about me Ellie, I'm not useless yet.”

“Joel, I didn't mean for you to think that...”

“Let's just keep moving kiddo. We need to get the hell out of this town, and thanks to this storm...I'm pretty sure we're not getting much help from Tommy.”

“...you never know.”

“...he's smarter than me, so he better keep his ass back there.”

“Did you just say...”

“I did, and that stays just between us, got that?”

“Roger dodger.”

“Roger...tch, you still say some mighty odd things.”

“Everybody, hush up.”

They all looked forward as Bradson came to a stop, hand up in the air like he was directing a squad to hold their position.

“...what is it?” Joel said in as hushed a tone as he could.

“We ain't alone.”

“Thought no one else knew about the tunnels?”

“I never said that now did I?”

“...damn it Bradson...”

As the moments passed they began to hear voices echo through the tunnels, the conversations definitely directed towards them in particular.

“Goddammit, Chris' men.” Bradson growled. “Let's take this left tunnel up here, it'll be a longer route but, it'll take us around them.”

“Whatever gets us out of here.”

Bradson lead them off down the tunnel, leading them through the vast maze stretched out ahead of them.

“Now, don't any of you wander off, you get lost down here you might not come out.”

“That's a little extreme don't you think?” Carter asked, giving the old man a skeptical look.

“Yeah alright, you would eventually come out somewhere, but it'd take forever. And if your light goes out down here that could become a very real fate.”

“...we do have enough battery power to get out of here right?”

“Don't let him scare you kiddo. We each snatched up more flashlights and batteries before we headed out this way, he's just trying to mess with you.”

“You're taking the fun out of it Joel.”

“Heh. I get it Bradson, but I think they got enough to worry about right now.”

“Yeah, yeah. Alright.”

They moved on in silence after that, the only sounds being drops of water hitting the cement floor from cracks in the ceiling above. The tunnels were so long and so dark that their lights would only reach so far into the thick blackness before it was swallowed up into the abyss. The kids were now thoroughly freaked out after all that Bradson had said. They were convinced they really could get lost in the belly of the beast and never come out.

Ellie reached out, grabbing Joel's arm and getting a good grip on his sleeve.

“...you okay kiddo?”

“Just...don't want to trip over anything and fall is all. Don't want to uh...get all gimpy like you.”

“...and I thought I was a bad liar.”

“...heh...”

“I ain't gonna let you get lost down here kiddo, okay?”

“...okay.”

Joel smiled a bit at that, seeing a little of fourteen year old Ellie return to the now older girls face. He had been wrong, no matter how much she grew, in some ways she would always need him.

A light flashed from a tunnel to their right, lighting all four of them up and blinding them momentarily.

“There they are! Chris was right!”

“Shut up and fucking shoot them!”

Before they even had time to react, bullets were ricocheting off the walls around them, threatening to bounce back and pierce through them.

Without a word being spoken, they took off down the tunnel, trying desperately to lose their pursuers.

“We make enough turns and we can lose them right!?” Carter called out, ducking as a bullet flew right over his head.

“Not if they managed to find the blueprints for this place!” Bradson called back.

“Dammit Bradson! We were better in the storm!”

“Just trust me Joel will you!? I'm the one that knows this town, not you! You won't make it out otherwise!”

“...well, just don't forget where you're going then!”

“Wouldn't bring you all down here if my memory was shit!”

And so they continued on, taking turn after turn yet being unable to completely lose Chris' men. They had no doubt now that they did indeed have the blueprints to the tunnels, and nothing they did would lose them, shy of just getting the hell out of there.

They rounded yet another corner, an open rusted gate ahead of them.

“Come on! There's a lock on this, I can lock them in!”

He punched forward, reaching for the door to open it enough for them, the others close behind.

“...shit! Shit!”

“What!?” Joel yelled as he brought up his gun and fired down the tunnel, trying to buy them some time.”

“Locks fucking gone!”

“We'll just have to keep running then! How much further!?” Ellie yelled as she passed through the gate.

“Not much further! But I don't think we got much left in us for the final sprint!”

“We don't have a choice!”

Ellie pushed passed him, Carter on her heals. Bradson turned and followed right behind them, only stopping as he heard Joel cry out.

“Joel!?” Ellie called as she turned, ready to head back for him.

Joel had tripped up while trying to turn to follow them, his injured leg at last getting the best of him. As he looked down, he could see the blood again soaking his jeans, and at a frighteningly quick pace.

“...” He pushed himself up, looking back towards them as Ellie started to move.

“Carter! You take her and you don't let anything happen to her!”

“...Joel!?”

“...I'll just slow you all up...my legs too fucked...you have to go.”

“Joel!”

“Get her out of here! NOW!”

“JOEL!”

Carter grabbed her from behind before she could get much further, trying his best to pull her along as she struggled in his arms.

“...they have the blueprints on them...if you can get out...try. She needs you Joel...” Bradson said, though his voice sounded resigned.

“...just go. I'll do what I can...”

“JOEL! DON'T YOU FUCKING DO THIS TO ME! I CAN'T...don't fucking...”

But she couldn't finish her sentence as her throat became too choked up, her fears of him actually leaving her being all too real.

“...I love you kiddo...no matter how this ends...keep fighting.”

Before she could protest any further, he moved ahead into the darkness, firing ahead of him as he did so, his bum leg dragging behind him and leaving a crimson trail.

“...JOEL!”

Her cries died out as Carter and Bradson pulled her down the tunnel, leaving him to the darkness and the three men still firing in his direction.

He managed to pull himself towards one of the many crossroads, ducking into a tunnel for cover. He popped his head around the corner quickly, firing off a few shots as he did so, but it was hard to hit anyone as his light immediately gave him away, and they fired before he had much of a chance to land a good shot.

His gun clicked, a signal that they did not miss. As he ducked back into the tunnel, he heard them move forward, trying to get a good shot on his position before he could reload.

He reached for another clip, his hand shaking from the pain and the dizziness overtaking him. As he tried to get the clip into the gun, he could see Ellie’s face, her terrified expression forever burned into his soul. Her biggest fear was to be alone, and even with Tommy and Maria and all the people back at the town, she would always feel alone without him. If he died here, then he truly would fail her, and leave her to her fear.

He took a deep breath, his hand steadying enough to slip the clip into his gun. He slid the top to load a round and listened, gun at the ready. He could hear them coming, they were close. Their feet slammed against the cement like thunder, pools of water splashing beneath their feet. That's all he really needed. Taking another deep breath, he clicked off his flashlight and leaned around the corner, training his ears on the men running towards him. He used the sounds to triangulate their position, trying to take into account the echo from the tunnel.

He fired off a shot, then another. Both bullets hit their mark, one man falling with a splash and no other sound. Kill shot. The other fell and screamed out, the moving of water telling him he was rolling in pain.

“Shit!”

The other was running from him now, his footsteps growing distant as he ran back down the tunnel to regroup himself.

Joel kept his light off and crawled along, using the sounds of the injured man to keep from veering off and bumping head first into a wall.

At last he found the injured man, reaching down to take hold of his head. The man struggled against him, trying to find a grip on him in the darkness. Luckily for Joel, the man had fallen on his flashlight when he collapsed, breaking it. So he could see nothing, and thusly his hands were having trouble finding purchase on any part of Joel.

Joel finally got a good grip and jerked his head, the loud snapping of his neck breaking echoing through the tunnel.

“You asshole!” The remaining man called out, but he stayed wherever it was he was hidden, knowing now how easily Joel could take him out with or with out light.

Joel just shook his head and felt around, checking to make sure neither corpse had the blueprints. And of course, they didn't, but he did come up with their guns and some more ammo.

He settled against the wall for a moment now, knowing he was going to have to track the other guy down to get the blueprints so he could find his way out of there. But his head was spinning, and had he been able to see, he was sure darkness would be swimming at the edges of his vision. This was just like that damn rebar impaling him all over again, but without Ellie to push him along. He was at his own mercy.

He dug around in his pocket, finding an old handkerchief and pulling it out. He grunted as he tied it around his leg, making the best tourniquet he could to stem the blood flow and buy him some time to get out.

But he could hear the other man moving again, this time further away. If he was going to catch him, he was going to have to push himself to run. He just wasn't sure his leg would allow for that. But he did not want these tunnels to be his tomb, and he did not want to leave Ellie all on her own.

So he laid his hand on the wall behind him and pushed himself up, clicking his light back on as he forced himself town the tunnel.

“I'm coming for you asshole!”

Maybe calling out wasn't the smartest choice but, in this case it was. He was trying to hide the fact he was in a bad state, he needed to sound strong. Strong and very pissed off.

The mans only response was to continue running down the tunnel.

“...shit...”

Joel pushed off, nearly smashing face first to the ground as his leg nearly gave out on him. But he regained his balance and continued on, running down the tunnel, adrenaline giving him the extra strength he needed.

He had to keep him within listening distance, otherwise his ability to get out of here would be shot. He could not lose him.

And he didn't have to worry about that, as he rounded a corner and nearly got his head taken off as a bullet whizzed by, just catching his left ear. 

He swore as it stung and burned, and he could tell a piece of his ear was probably no longer there. But he fought off worrying about that for now as he ran forward, firing off shots as he did so.

The other man pulled back a little again, finding a corner to hide behind as he fired back.

Joel ducked back behind a pile of junk the other had originally been hiding behind, popping shots over the top until his gun jammed.

“Fuck me.”

He worked at the slide, trying like hell to get the jammed bullet to pop out. But his predicament hadn't gone unnoticed and bullets were now flying over his head again. The man was now running towards him.

“Fuck!” He got up and ran, wincing and ducking as bullets bounced off everything around him. The sound from the gun echoing in the tunnel became deafening, so Joel didn't hear the loud crash in a tunnel down the way and to his right. Didn't notice that there were now more footsteps added to both his and his pursuer.

Not until he rounded a corner, and not until he'd ran a few more steps.

“Guh...fucking shit!” 

His instinct initially had been to punch, but he knew damn well that would do nothing, so he fought off that urge and instead ducked and slid on the floor, just missing the grip of the massive bloater he had nearly run into.

His limbs flailed frantically as he tried to find his footing and push himself up to continue running. Instead it turned into him half dragging himself and half running on all fours as he pushed around an old crate by the wall. He'd lost his gun in the process of being scared shitless, and he tried now to root around for one of the guns he'd picked up from one of the men he killed.

As he pulled it out and peeked up, trying to see how much time he had before the bloater was on him, he found it had been suddenly distracted as his attacker had just rounded the corner. He had no time to react, barely even getting his gun to twitch as the bloater grabbed his head, putting his fingers into his mouth and pulling his head apart from top and bottom.

Joel could see the body continue to twitch after it fell to the ground, nerves still reacting to the situation even though he was very dead.

Joel didn't move at this point, he just stayed as still as he could and kept his breaths shallow, waiting and praying for this lumbering ugly lump of flesh and fungus to move off.

It finally did once the corpse stopped twitching, leaving Joel still firmly glued to his spot. He was not going to move till he was well and sure that thing was out of the area.

Unfortunately, as his leg soon reminded him, he didn't have that kind of time. The adrenaline was wearing off and the direness of the situation returned.

He took a few deep breaths to regain control before moving forward, his light revealing the extent of the scene before him.

This tunnel was a slightly narrower tunnel, making his evasion of the bloater almost a miracle. The walls around the corpse were stained with sprays of red, as the vessels all squirted and spewed blood as they were severed. Below the corpse was a pool of blood that ran the width of the tunnel from wall to wall, enough of it that the body itself was nothing but a mangled red mess.

“Guh...coulda been me...”

He shook his head and knelt down, standing in the puddle of blood as he felt around the equally bloody body for the blueprints.

“Bingo.”

At last he had them. Now he just had to figure out where he was so he had a guide to go from.

He stepped out of that tunnel and flashed his light on the wall, looking for the markers that were usually by any branch of tunnel.

He found it and located it's position on the prints, figuring where he was and finding his path from there. Hopefully he was going to make it out of this place. Now he had his leg and a fucking bloater to contend with.

 

Bradson was doing everything he could to hold Ellie after they exited the tunnel. She wanting nothing more than to go back in there to get Joel, despite not knowing where he was or if she could get either of them back out.

“Ellie! Stop!” Carter yelled, trying to get her to calm down.

“Fuck you! We can't just leave him down there! He's hurt bad, he won't make it out of there without help!”

Bradson finally just turned her so she was facing him, settling his hands on her shoulders and holding her firmly, but not enough that he'd be hurting her.

“Stop it. Now, you of all people know Joel, you know him better than us, and you have to know he would do anything to get back to you, yes?”

“...he would, and he has...”

“Then you have to trust him, have faith in him. If you went back down there, you could miss him. There's more than one way out of those tunnels, and if he got out, you'd be down there and no one would be able to find you. You have, to trust him.”

“...” Her shoulders slumped under his grip, knowing every word he spoke was true.

“Now, we have to get out of here. I know where each of the exits are, and they aren't that far apart. I know a place we can go where I'd have a good eye on those areas...okay?”

“...yeah.” 

“Alright, come on then.”

She said nothing as he released her, and still nothing as she followed both of them to the building. She knew Joel was more than capable of handling himself, even in that state. And she knew he was strong enough to survive it, for a while anyway. But she knew he needed help, and the longer he struggled down there the worse his chances became. But Bradson was right, she had to have faith in him.

She settled down in an old chair once they were safely inside, watching as Bradson barricaded the door.

“Now, I'm gonna go check all the other doors and the windows, you two stay right here okay?”

“Okay.” Carter said.

Ellie only nodded, her detest for this town and everyone in it growing.

“I'm sure he's fine down there...”

“...doesn't seem like a place anyone should die in...can you imagine that? Dying alone in dark tunnels...knowing the chances anyone would stumble on you are slim...”

“...I don't like to think about that, no. But that's not going to happen to him, so don't think about it.”

“...how close are we to being out of this town?” She decided changing the subject would be best for her sanity at the moment.

“...we're close to the border actually. We could probably be out of her in less than ten minutes if we could catch a break.”

“And I can assume that Chris would probably still come looking, yeah?”

“...yeah, probably. But I doubt he'd have much luck with your town. They haven't been able to take it or the dam yet. Doubt they ever will.”

“...yeah. Tommy's a nice guy but...god help you if you mess with him. You can really see him and Joel are brothers at that point...though he's not as brutal as Joel...”

“...only when you fuck with his family, right?”

“Right.”

She got out of the chair and looked around the room, realizing they were in some form of hotel or inn, one of god knows how many in this town. Though it looked much more rundown than a good lot of the ones closer to the center of town. Bits of the ceiling were caved in here and there, making the upstairs primarily useless, windows were broken and un-boarded since no one used this part of town. Snow piled in corners and on tables where it blew in through the windows, ice caking the parts of the floor that were wooden, freezing over from rain water that got in. More than a few animals were now using it as lodging, their eyes glowing from darkened corners and generally making this place look like a terror from straight out of a nightmare.

“...so, uh...were you always from Wyoming?” He scratched the back of his head as he asked, trying hard at whatever small talk would help ease her mind a bit.

“...no. We came from Boston.”

“...you came all the way here from Boston? On foot?”

“...well, partly by vehicle...till Pittsburgh fucked us over anyway. That town was the bane of our existence.”

“...tch, I bet. I heard horror stories about that QZ after the soldiers were gone.”

“All very true.”

“What brought you guys way out here anyway? Joel's brother?”

“...sure. That's what it was. We came to find Tommy.” It was the truth, if only part of it.

“I see. Must of been a hell of a journey.”

“Sure was.”

They both shut up as pounding came from the other side of the barricaded door. Neither moved as the pounding continued, only reacting as Bradson suddenly reappeared and ran for the door. 

Within moments he had it cleared and had pulled it open, stepping back as Joel stumbled his way in, dragging hid leg behind him.

“JOEL!” Ellie started to run towards him but he put his hand up.

“STOP! STAY THERE!”

Bradson made for his gun but it was too late as one of Chris' men ran in, bashing the older man in the face with the butt of his rifle.

“You son of a bitch!” Carter yelled as he rushed him, only halting as two more men entered and pointed their guns at him.

Joel's eyes were locked on Ellie the whole time, up until he was kicked to the floor, yelling out in pain as he rolled to give his oppressor a nasty glare.

“Don't even. You have been nothing but a pain in the ass since you got here. That's over now.”

Chris stepped in, gun raised and pointed at Joel's glaring, prone form.

“Not gonna kill you yet though. See, I like my games, and we're gonna play a nice one. So tell me, just how much is it you're willing to do for that girl of yours?”

He grinned a dark grin, one that sent chills down everyone's spine.

“Guess I'll find out huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wanted this one up a couple days ago, in celebration of The Last of Us Part 2 being announced, but after smashing up my foot that very day at work...my mind just wouldn't work at that time. Though that trailer made me feel somewhat better. And what an announcement trailer at that huh?
> 
> But that aside, this part partially reflected an experience of mine in game. Is it weird to have problems with one little scare even to this day? So, long story short, the bloater part came from the hotel part, the lovely wonderful basement...and my first play through of the game and my first experience with bulky bastard. I ran, fought a bit, decided to just make for the key card door...and literally ran smack dab into this beast...he was coming out of the laundry room there and my first instinct...was to scream and punch him...yes...punch him. Needless to say poor Joel had no head after that...that sliding evasion in this chapter was what I wish I could have done...so, there's a little of my fearful moment expressed in chapter. XD


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group is trapped in the Inn with Chris and his goons training guns on them. The storm still rages outside, infected are all over, and Joel is bleeding bad. Could it get much worse?

It seemed like years passed since Joel and his captors entered the old Inn, and in all that time very little had been said after Chris had stopped talking. Everyone seemed to be trying to gauge everyone else, eyes slowly moving from person to person, looking for the slightest hint of movement, or even the slight change in how someone looked at somebody else. 

But very little changed, each person very aware that they were being tested, and no one was willing to be that one person that caused all hell to break lose.

Ellie, Carter, and Bradson were each still standing where they had been when Chris and his goons entered, hands held up to try to keep their captors from becoming trigger happy. But Ellie knew their time was limited. Her eyes repeatedly returned to Joel, watching him as he winced in pain between his glares that he was still throwing at Chris. He held his hand tightly to his leg, the palm of it now as stained red as the leg of his pants had become. Ellie could only assume that somehow, he had managed to do more damage to the wound to get it to that state, seeing as it hadn't been that bad earlier on. But what she wasn't quite sure. All she knew was he was on borrowed time, they had to come up with something, and fast.

Seemingly annoyed by the silence the room had fallen into, Chris started to move, stalking back and forth near the doorway, popping the safety of his hand gun on and off in frustration.

“Really? Not a person here is seriously going to say anything? Especially you gimpy? I just questioned what it was you would be willing to do to protect that girl of yours, and still all I get is glares? Either y’all are stupid as shit or extremely ballsy. You think just standing there and staring is gonna get you anywhere? That it's gonna protect anyone? Well I got news for you, it ain't. But, maybe I just asked the wrong question. Or maybe I just questioned the wrong person, cause looking at you gimpy...I don't think you could save a puppy from being kicked right now.”

He finally stopped both his pacing and playing with his gun, his eyes now falling on Ellie as he grinned, flashing his teeth a little.

“Maybe I should be asking you, you little bitch.” He said as he raised his gun and pointed it at her, watching her as he waited for a reaction. He got none.

“You even think of fucking touching her...” Joel started, but he was cut off as Chris briskly stalked over and kicked him in the face, sending him backwards.

“I ain't talking to you right now shit head. Wait your turn.”

“Leave him the fuck alone!” Ellie yelled as she took a step forward, but she stopped quickly when Chris turned his gun on Joel.

“Uh uh uh. Take one more step and I put a bullet through that thick skull of his.”

Ellie growled but stayed put, eyes narrowed as she stared at him.

“I guess asking you was the right move. You certainly got far more fire then he has right now, though I guess considering his condition I can understand why. So, humor me then. What exactly would you be willing to do for the old man here?”

“There's a lot of people you could get that answer from, problem is I fucking killed them all.”

Chris laughed a bit as he turned to regard his men behind him, each of them joining in on the laughter. But after a moment he turned his attention back to her, a dark grin on his face.

“Is that a fact girly? You telling me you, with that scrawny little body of yours, killed a shit ton of people just to save this worthless sack of shits life? You want me to believe that?”

“Looks are deceiving asshole. Being skinny, and shorter as I was at that time, has it's advantages. I was quicker than them, and I could squeeze through places they couldn't. There's a lot of ways to win a fight.”

“Ah. So you're saying you hunted them like animals? Snuck up behind them and sliced their throats, that what you're saying?”

“I did what I had to.”

“And you think you could do that again huh? Think you could...do that while looking right at them? Hm?”

“I already have. I looked right at his ugly fucking face while I hacked it in with a machete!”

Chris looked her over for a moment, staying quiet as he tried to tell if this kid was really telling the truth, or just lying really well through her teeth.

On the floor Joel was looking up at her, eyes looking on her in regret as he realized that though much of what she did was for survival, the viciousness she used to do so more than likely came from watching him. It's one of the reasons he hadn't wanted to give her a gun, but he knew if she was to survive, he'd have to. But he damned everything that had happened over that winter, because it pushed her over that final edge. At this moment, as he looked into her eyes, he could see the gears turning, could see her waiting for just the right moment. Even though, once again, this was over survival, it still made his heart ache to see her like that.

Off to the side Carter and Bradson watched on, each just as disturbed at the very noticeable changes coming over Ellie. It was just something they weren't use to with her, but Bradson would no doubt get use to it quickly, Carter on the other hand...realized that girl he once feared...well that had only been the tip of the iceberg of what she could really be.

Chris finally seemed to make up his mind as his eyes fell back to Joel, moving over to grab him and yank him to his feet. Joel hissed in pain as Chris dragged him up, trying to struggle against him but just not having the energy for it.

“I wouldn't do anything stupid if you want the old man here to live.” Chris said, putting one arm across Joel's throat and applying pressure, choking off some of Joel's airflow. With his other he put the gun to his head, eyes firmly planted back on her now.

“You wanted to know what I'd do? You wanted to sit there and play a little game and now you just want to quit? Don't know how to finish what you start do you?”

“I know when to back out of a bad situation.”

“No you don't, or you wouldn't have followed us to begin with.”

“I'll blow his brains out!”

“And you'd be dead right after. You think if you pull that trigger, that you'll walk away from this?”

“Think you lot are fast enough to pull that off huh?”

“Care to test it? There has been more than one person that underestimated us, and it didn't end well for them.”

“Christ. Just how is it with you two? You just roll into town and fuck up every life you cross? Look what you caused here!”

“All you had to do was let us go.”

“Fuck you bitch!”

“Let me put this another way...” She hesitated for a moment, eyes settling on Joel now and softening just the slightest. “Let...let my dad go...”

Joel stared at her, mouth opened slightly as he tried to soak in the words he had just heard. He thought for sure with what he had done, that at best he'd just be a guardian to her, that whatever had been there before would be gone. But that didn't end up being the case. She was showing him that she did truly forgive him, and this is who he was to her. A small smile inched at his mouth, a bit of fatherly pride coursing through him.

But before any ground could be made from the threat, one of Chris' men screamed out from behind them, forcing all eyes to turn to his direction. He was on the ground, screaming and flailing as a runner started tearing through his chest. Behind it another runner and two stalkers were running for the entrance, screams and garbled tones alerting any of the other infected in the area that prey had been found.

“SHIT!” Chris yelled as he turned his gun from Joel and trained it on the first stalker, firing three shots off and eventually dropping it.

But that had been all the window that was needed, as Joel brought his arm back and elbowed him, causing Chris to stagger and giving Joel another chance to strike him. He lacked strength though and so only managed to shove him before Chris lashed out and kicked his injured leg.

“FUCK!” Joel fell to the floor, hissing and clenching his leg, hurting to the point that he curled up almost to the fetal position.

Chris trained his gun on him but didn't even have time to pull the trigger as bullets began to whiz by his head from all directions. Ellie, Bradson, and Carter were firing at him, trying to get him away from Joel.

During all this, the other infected had entered and were tearing apart at Chris' other men, and even more were making their way towards them, a few clickers now in the mix.

“Fuck this!”

Chris turned on his heal and ran off towards a side hallway, bullets following his every step.

“Get back here asshole!”

“Ellie! We gotta go!” Carter yelled, popping off some shots and downing two infected.

“Shit...” She moved over to Joel, taking one of his arms. “Give me a hand over here!”

Carter ran over and to his other arm, each helping him to his feet and taking an arm over their shoulders.

“Cover us Bradson! We gotta fucking move!”

He nodded to her and fired while they made their retreat, but knowing with Joel's state they weren't going to get far.

“Carter! Take them to the machine garage! There's no way we're getting out of here on foot!”

“What about you!?”

“I'll be fine! But with Joel in the state he is you aren't gonna be able to move fast, I have to hold them back!”

“...be careful old man! We're not gonna leave without you!”

“Just go! I'll catch up!”

Carter only nodded as he and Ellie turned, pulling Joel along as carefully but as quickly as they could. Joel was gritting his teeth, grunting with each step they took.

“We really gotta quit doing this Joel...how many times am I going to have to drag your ass around like this?”

“We're...definitely gonna have to...try to stop making this...a thing...”

“When we get home...you're grounded old man...”

“Heh. You...you can't ground me...I'm...I'm your dad...”

“I don't give a shit, you're still grounded...”

Carter watched the exchange between the two. Surprised they could go on joking like this when Joel was bleeding out and they had infected on their tail. But looking at them, he realized this had to be a common occurrence.

At last they reached the garage, Carter kicking the door open and shuffling them inside quickly. He ducked out of Joel's grasp for a moment, to quickly shut the door again, moving as many piles of heavy odds and ends in front of it as he could.

“Okay...just sit him down, I'm gonna see which one of these are working right now.”

“You got working vehicles?”

“Some. But they've been beat to shit lately so I'm not sure what still works.”

She watched as he moved off towards a larger room in the back, presumably where the vehicles were kept.

“...” 

“Kiddo...”

“Right.” 

She carefully moved him forward, settling him at last on an old bench by the wall.

“How you holding up?”

“...shitty...”

“...you know...I wouldn't have minded a lie this one time...”

“Hard to lie when you can see my state...”

“Didn't stop you at the university...”

“Was no time for you to be worrying...they were all over us...”

“And they aren't now? Plus infected?” She took a seat next to him on the bench, a deep worry taking over her features. “...you know...I said if we made it out of that you had to sing for me...”

“I made...no promises...” He said with a grunt.

“Well this time...you have to. When we get home, and you get better...you're gonna sing for me. All you do is pick at the strings...I wanna hear a song...”

“Kiddo...if we make it out of this...I'll sing anytime you ask...”

She smiled slightly, though it was partially hidden by the worry that was still there, and the tears that started to streak down her face.

“Hey now...no tears...you know I don't give up easy...”

“SHIT!”

They both turned their heads towards the back room, Ellie pulling her gun as she stood up.

“...Carter!? Carter, you okay!?”

Carter came back through the doorway and into the front reception area, hands in the air as Chris pushed him along, gun to his head and Chris thoroughly hidden behind him.

“...fuck sake...don't you ever give up? You coulda just fucking left.” Ellie growled.

“I don't leave loose ends. And you two...have been nothing but a major pain in my ass...I ain't letting you leave.”

“Not sure you have a choice...”

“Don't start trying to talk your way out of it or threatening! No more fucking games! Drop the gun or I'm gonna kill your little friend here! DROP IT!”

“Alright...just take it easy...I'll put it down just...don't shoot him...”

She kept her eyes on him as she put her hand out to the side, slowly lowering the gun as she did so. Her speed was deliberate though, and her eyes stayed on him not only to watch for the slightest bit of movement from him, but so as not to give away Bradson moving in from the shop area.

“...don't fuck around! Drop it!”

The next few moments felt longer than they actually were. Bradson didn't see the beer bottle near his foot and he came into contact with it, the bottle rolling and clanging as it rolled into a shelf by the wall.

Chris turned quickly, firing off shots as Bradson tried to dive back into the shop, hitting the older man in the arm as he did so.

Carter grabbed the arm that was holding him in place and bit down on it, causing Chris to yell as he released him. Chris swung his arm around to pistol whip him and send him backwards into the front desk, his ribs colliding hard with the edge before he fell to the floor.

But as he turned his gun on Joel and Ellie, both had already been prepared and fired, Joel's shot hitting his left shoulder while Ellie's got him in the leg, the exact same leg as Joel's. He fell to the ground cussing and hissing, gun still in hand.

He rolled and brought it up, still determined to finish what he started, but Ellie was already on him. She kicked his hand and sent the gun sliding across the room.

Now that the dust had finally settled, Ellie was quite literally the last one standing, and she stood right over Chris.

“...you're still gonna die bitch...you and these shits here...and you know what? Even everyone back at your settlement...I'm gonna make sure each and every one of them die!”

“And how do you plan to do that huh?”

“I'll heal...”

“Can't heal from death...”

She raised the gun, bringing it level with his head.

“Ellie...don't...it's over...” Joel said from behind her, voice much gruffer than it usually was. He was really in a bad state.

She hesitated, but finally lowered the gun and stepped away, just glad to be finished with this.

“Dickhead...” She mumbled as she turned to help Carter back to his feet, the young man obviously in pain, though thankfully it didn't seem any ribs had broken.

Bradson had found his way back to his feet in the shop area, his excessive swearing letting everyone know the old man was very much alive and would no doubt be just fine.

“Ah shit...can we get the fuck out of this town now?” Carter asked as he held his ribs, hissing as he tried to shift so he could lean against the counter.

“Sounds like a pl...” 

Ellie couldn't finish her sentence as Chris collided with her back, sending them both slamming to the floor, her gun bouncing away.

“ELLIE!” 

Joel tried to move but he almost passed out from the simple action, and Carter could barely push away from the desk but he tried nonetheless. Bradson was moving back into the reception area as well, both closing in on the two. 

Chris had dragged himself across the room, reaching for where his gun had slid under a side table in a corner. His hand fell on the handle and he gripped it with a grin, rolling over on his back to take aim on Ellie. But she had recovered quickly and already had her gun, aiming at him as he rolled.

“...don't...” He started to plead.

She pulled the trigger, blood spraying out from the back of his head as she placed the bullet right between his eyes. His head slammed back against what was left of the cracked linoleum with a sickening thud, more blood pooling from the action.

The room at last fell silent.

Ellie stood there, gun still raised but arms shaking slightly. This was in no means the first time she had killed anyone obviously, but this felt like straight up execution. She hadn't had a choice, she knew that. Just like she hadn't had a choice years ago back in Pittsburgh, when she shot that man in the head to save Joel. It was just something she wasn't a fan of, and it terrified her, seeing this side of herself.

“Kiddo?”

“...” She slowly lowered the gun, not looking behind at all as she spoke. “...what else could I do Joel? I was gonna let him go...”

“...sometimes...sometimes people just throw their chances away. He brought it on himself kiddo...”

“...can we go now?”

“All the vehicles back there are dead. They must have been working on them but, just didn't have the time to finish the repairs.” Carter responded, leaning hard on the counter again and still holding his ribs.

“We'll take the horses then.” Bradson said, grunting as he patched up the wound on his arm.

“In this storm?”

“This? This storm is nothing compared to what we usually get, you know that Carter. The horses are used to the weather out here, they'll get us through. Besides, there's no way we're walking out of here and Joel really needs help.”

“About that...” Joel said as he ever so slowly pushed himself up. “We may have a bit of an issue with that.”

They each turned and looked at the windows, realizing the infected were starting to surround them.

“...can't we catch a break here?” Carter questioned, throwing his head back a little too dramatically.

“They got attracted by all the gunfire, we're gonna get overrun soon.” Bradson said, checking his ammo. “Fall back into the shop, there's no windows in there and we can hold out there till we figure something out.”

Ellie and Carter each took a hold of one of Joel's arms again, helping him into the shop, though at a much slower pace. Each of them were battered and bruised and if this went on any longer, they knew there was no way they'd be able to pull through it.

Bradson barricaded the door while Ellie and Carter took Joel into the small office, settling him into a chair.

“Check your ammo!” Bradson called to them, his voice echoing through the shop.

The tree did as they were instructed, the looks they gave each other showing how dire the situation was.

“We won't last like this. I got six rounds, that's it.” Ellie said as she popped the clip back in.

“I got a full clip but, won't help against a horde.” Carter growled.

Joel only huffed. “I'm completely out.”

“Well this is just great. Maybe we should just try to take down as many as we can and then just make a run for it.”

“We wouldn't get far kiddo. They'd swamp the horses easy...”

“We may not have a choice.” Bradson said as he entered, slightly out of breath as he had been running around the shop checking all forms of entrances while they talked, blocking up what he could. 

“There's no way we're holding out here, and if they don't get us, the rest of the community eventually will. We clear a path and run. Carter, you and Ellie saddle up the horses, have them ready so we can get out quick.”

“Got it.” Carter said as he motioned for Ellie to follow him.

“...you gonna be okay Joel?”

“I'll be just fine, you go on and get those horses ready.”

She nodded reluctantly and followed after Carter, leaving Bradson and Joel alone in the office.

“...she really knows how to take care of herself doesn't she?”

“It's not what I wanted for her...I tried to keep her from this...”

“Don't think you had much of a choice Joel. There are very few people in this world that will get through life without killing at least one person. And when you're outside the wall...killing becomes an every day occurrence. She especially needs to know how to take a life, to do so without hesitation.”

Joel scowled, knowing exactly what he was getting at. “Not letting that happen to her.”

“...you won't be here forever Joel...it'll be on her after you're gone.”

“Well I ain't dead yet, so I'll keep doing what I can to keep her safe. Even if it means teaching her to kill in any way necessary...”

Bradson only nodded, holding his hand out.

“We have to move now. We'll try to clear the back entrance and then get the hell out of here.”

Joel looked at him for a moment before taking his hand, wincing as the older man helped him up.

“Alright, get your arm over my shoulder then.”

Joel did so, still hating how much he had to rely on other people at this point. He obviously had no problem counting on Ellie, she knew more about him and his softer side than anyone did, but he wasn't one for letting anyone else see that side of him.

Bradson moved him along, leaning him against one of the broken down trucks before going to check the large metal garage door. He set his ear to it, trying to see if he could hear anything since the room lacked any windows on the lower level. The upper level would allow him a good view but, the stairs didn't look like they could support the weight of a squirrel so there was no way they were supporting him.

Both he and Joel turned suddenly though as Ellie screamed from the back room, Joel immediately trying to push himself off the truck to run to her.

“Kiddo!?”

“I'm fine!” She yelled back, sounding a little too over excited for the situation. “It's C2! He's here! The other horse too!”

“Ah...that's good...just don't do that again! Nearly gave me a heart attack...”

“Sorry!”

When he turned back he noticed Bradson was looking at him, one brow quirked in confusion.

“C2 is her horse...”

“...C2?”

“She had a horse named Callus once...it got killed. This one is C2, short for Callus 2...”

“...alright then. I've heard...odder names...”

“Just...check the door...”

Bradson just shook his head and put his ear to the door again, listening intently. He could hear them shuffling around outside, grunts and incoherent verbalization coming and going. Then there was the occasional click which caused him to wince.

“Hate those fucking things. Whelp, bad news is, they're stalking around out there. Good news, doesn't sound like there's too many at the moment.”

“Probably the best luck we've had since we got here.”

“Well, it's almost daylight as well, so we'll see a tiny bit more now so, suppose that's sort of a break?”

“A breaks getting out of this town alive.”

“We got the horses set.” Carter said as he stepped out, gun already drawn.

“Where's Ellie?”

“Still hugging the neck of that horse of hers.” He rolled his eyes a bit.

Joel only shook his head and changed his position a bit. “Come on kiddo. We're not done here yet.”

She finally emerged, whatever joy she may have had on her face while she was in the other room now gone.

“So how are we doing this?”

“Well, I don't want to open the garage door, they'll just filter on in. We'll pop the side door there open and control the stream, pop them off as they come. When we thin them enough, you and Ellie can get the horses and bring them out. I'll throw the garage door open then and we'll make a break for it.”

“Still got that storm to contend with though, that'll slow the horses.” Joel said.

“We don't have a choice. Besides, the snow will slow them too so, we might have a chance...” He paused now, moving over towards Joel. “You're too injured to be doing anything, so why don't we just get you on a horse right away?”

“I'm still breathing...don't think I can't...”

“Joel...you don't even have any ammo...and it'll take some effort for you to get on the horse...”

He looked at Ellie, clearly upset she was taking Bradson's side, but the look on her face crushed any comment he may have had.

“...fine. If it'll help us get out of here faster than I'll let y'all do the work. But don't think this is going to be a habit.”

“Then don't make it one.” Ellie said as she took his arm again, directing him to where the horses were. “Sometimes you do more than you're capable of...remember...luck runs out...”

He frowned at that, hating how true those words really were, and how many times it had come back to bite them in the ass.

He said nothing though as she did her best to help him on the horse, making sure he was well and good in the saddle before turning.

“Kiddo...? You be careful out there you hear me? Don't do anything risky...”

“I got this Joel. Just...hang in there, we're almost out of this.”

He nodded to her, watching with an ache in his chest as she returned to the others, fearing what could happen if he wasn't there.

The horse to his right distracted him though, nudging at his arm to gain his attention. He turned his head, regarding the horse with a friendly pat on the nose.

“...C2...she really has to learn how to name pets...if you have any kids boy...she ain't allowed to name them.”

C2 only snorted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I admit, when I started this story I did struggle with how much I wanted to evolve Ellie. I wasn't sure just how, I guess deadly, I would make her? I wasn't sure what changes would push her that far at first. But then the trailer dropped...and with the theme being at it is, hate...my mind was pretty much made up for me. And that kind of thing has to start somewhere I suppose. It either evolves or something is just terrible enough to make it appear on the spot.
> 
> But, we don't know much past what has been shown to us, so I choose to evolve her over time. Actually kind of hurts me to do that but, it's pretty much cannon now so...let the ache begin anew.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the battle finally reaching a conclusion, can Joel survive his injury? And regardless, just what does happen next?

The dawn of day was finally reaching over the hills and mountains, allowing light to finally reach the now embattled town below. The clouds still lay thick enough in the sky to block out the sun itself, but the snow had calmed quite a bit.

With this morning light, the world could now see the effects of the battle that ensued over the night. Bodies of man and infected lay scattered throughout the town, the snow beneath stained red, making the area a polka dotted pallet of massacre.

Screams and gurgles still emanated from throughout the town, along with intermittent gunshots and explosions. The members of the city were still trying to beat back the infected forces as best they could, but retreat was quickly becoming the only option to them.

Elsewhere, while the inhabitants were busy trying to survive, Bradson was preparing the small group for their eventual escape. They had beaten back the horde as best as they could with what limited ammo they had left, but now they were completely out and escape was the only option.

Ellie and Carter had already gathered up the horses and waited by the garage door while Bradson started raising it. They knew they had mere seconds before the horde would stampede in, and in that time they would have to keep them distracted enough for Bradson to make his way to his horse.

As soon as the door was high enough, Bradson turned and bolted for his horse, the others rushing forward to get the infected's attention on them.

They each brandished whatever weapons they could scavenge, that being pipes and crowbars, and they now swung away at the infected until Bradson had mounted his horse and joined them. Now they did their best to plow through the infected and the snow drifts, trying to make their escape.

Between the snow and the wall of infected that grew more and more because of the noise, it made for dangerously slow going. It was becoming more difficult to take out infected while also trying to keep their legs from getting bitten, but it was hard to keep track of both.

The horses were panicking by this point as well, and each began rearing up in defense of their own lives, taking out infected with each stomp of their powerful hooves.

They were starting to make headway again and the wall of infected thinned out enough for them to spur their horses forward. Behind them they could hear the guttural cries of the infected as they chased after them, angry that their prey was starting to get away.

The drifting snow still made for rough travel and the horses were having a difficult time gaining too much speed through it all. This allowed time for the infected to catch up.

The infected were having their own difficulties, but with each that stumbled and fell, another behind used them as a bridge. And soon the infected were practically stepping over one another, using it as a quick method to reach the horses.

Concerned with the growing terror behind them, they never noticed the infected coming from the front till the last moment. The horses reared, no longer able to move and being bombarded by clawing hands and mashing teeth.

C2 reared as a clicker managed to get a grip on his reins, lashing and kicking to remove the terrifying creature. In the process Ellie was thrown from his back and she landed somewhere within a crowd of screeching infected.

“Ellie!”

Joel made to get off his horse but Bradson stopped him.

“You jump down and you're good as dead!”

“Get your fucking hands off me Bradson!”

“Use your head!”

While they fought, Carter jumped from his horse, swinging his crowbar around as he tried to cut a path to where Ellie had disappeared, hoping she was still in the general area. But he too disappeared into the throng, leaving both men now in a state of panic.

“Carter! Boy, are you alright!? Carter!”

“Ellie!?”

For a long agonizing moment nothing was heard but the infected. There was no other sound, and no sight of the two young ones that had disappeared somewhere among the hellish beasts.

But then there was a shot, and then another. Both Joel and Bradson whipped around, expecting to see a member of the town. But instead, Joel set eyes on his brother and a group of others from the settlement.

“Tommy! The hell...?”

“Didn't I tell you to wait if there was trouble?”

“When have I ever listened?”

“Yeah, that's the problem.”

A few more shots went off around them, thinning out the horde considerably. And once the crowd was beaten back, they could at last see Ellie and Carter, both laying under a rusting, aging car, bloody weapons splayed in front of them.

“Ellie!” Joel yelled, spurring his horse forward and clubbing a few infected that were starting to make their way towards them. “Go! Get to your horse!”

She quickly scurried out, Carter close behind. They ran for their horses as the men and women from the settlement fired all around them, keeping the infected from getting anywhere near them.

“Let's get the hell outta here!” Tommy yelled, spurring his horse around and leading everyone down the path they had cleared.

It was still a struggle to get out of the city, with the surrounding hills covered in thick snow, there was no way the horses could safely scale them, making the damaged road the only route both in and out. And then there was still the groups of both infected and human to fight through to get there, but eventually they managed and made it to the road.

“Alright, think we're okay.” Tommy said, relief flooding his tone.

“I didn't think you lot would get through here with the storm.”

“I can be as stubborn as you sometimes brother, and I figured all hell was gonna break lose. Sorta does when you're involved after all.”

“Yeah, you'd think people would just learn to stay the hell out of my way...” He hissed in pain at the end, grabbing at his leg.

“...we best hurry along, you need a doctor...”

“Managed this long...”

“Joel...” Ellie started, warning in her tone.

“It's okay baby girl...not long to the settlement, I can hold on.”

“...you fucking better, or I'll never forgive you...”

He only scowled and looked down at his bloodied leg, wondering if his leg was even salvageable at this point.

 

For a while the group moved on in silence, intent on putting as much distance between them and the city as possible. But while the others were just happy to get out alive, Tommy was worried about any repercussions that may come of this. They had been scuffling with this particular bandit group on and off for a while now, and they didn't learn their lesson well. They continued attacks on both the settlement and the dam, sure that one day they would finally gain possession of both.

Now they had even more motivation for attack, and Tommy had no doubt somewhere down the road that might just happen.

For now though, they were probably safe. Winter wasn't the greatest time for a fight, and that's the one thing the bandits usually stuck to. Unless things got particularly tight and supplies were needed, both sides just hunkered down to wait out the cold months. So if anything, they had some time to plan for any future attacks. Right now, he was just concerned with getting his brother to the doctor quick as he could.

Despite the facade he was putting on, Joel was in bad shape, close to passing out. His face was looking more and more pale as time passed on and Tommy knew he could only hold it together for so long. He could see it was evident to Ellie as well, as she was watching him intently. Wouldn't be the first time she'd dealt with him being in this condition after all, but hopefully it would be the last. Joel needed to learn to settle down a bit. Sure, he still had a lot of life left in him but, he had too much of a tendency to get into trouble. Tommy wanted to call him out on it but, he figured Ellie would do that on her own, and he'd probably listen to her.

With time they reached the settlement and they immediately rushed Joel to the towns physician. With the adrenaline fueled fight long over, his body was starting to come down and he was feeling every one of his injuries. Tommy and one of the other men had to help him off the horse and get him inside, as his legs no longer supported his weight. Not long after he'd gotten inside, he lost consciousness, causing the doctor to quickly rush the men out so they could get to work on him quickly.

That had been two hours prior. In that time no news had come and Ellie, Tommy, Bradson, and Carter were left waiting and wondering outside the hospital building.

They had been lucky on a few accounts when getting this town back on it's feet. One, the small hospital was still well equipped, as less people wandered in the mountainous areas as they did in the more heavily populated areas. Two, they had stumbled upon a technician who knew how to repair the machines and keep them running. Third, a couple members of the group had a medical background, including three surgeons. That had been the luck that kept most of the people in the settlement alive and well.

Joel had a good chance at survival...if too much damage hadn't been done that is. Ellie told them how long he'd been dragging himself around like that, and it left Tommy marveling at how his brother was still alive. But then again, that was just Joel. No matter how much the man had been through, or even his own attempts at ending his own life, the man still lived on. Tommy wouldn't as much call it a will to live entirely, as he didn't have that will for a long time. Ellie was more or less responsible for that he assumed. Or maybe this Tess woman he'd heard about here and there. Joel never said as much but, it did sound as if something had been going on between them.

Regardless of how, he was still here, and that was what mattered. But he worried now if that run of luck had ended, if he'd soon be burying his brother.

“Any news yet?”

He looked up to see Maria standing there, large wicker basket on one arm.

“...not yet.”

She frowned and took a seat in an empty plastic chair. “Dad helped me put some food together for you all. Figured you all could use something the most, after hearing what you've been through. Can imagine you're starving.”

“I appreciate that young miss, thank you.” Bradson said with a small smile.

“I'm not all that hungry...” Ellie said, eyes back on the front door of the hospital. It must have been the millionth time she'd done that over the last couple hours, waiting to see any movement from the building.

“...you should try to eat something Ellie, you're gonna pass out otherwise.” Carter said quietly, concern in his voice.

“He's right kiddo. At least a sandwich maybe?” Tommy said, setting a hand gently on her shoulder.

“...yeah. I guess so.” She reluctantly pulled her eyes away from the door, accepting the sandwich Maria pulled from the basket.

“I do have to talk to you after you're done eating Tommy. Dad's...he's got some concerns...”

“...worried about the bandits isn't he?”

She glanced at Ellie for a moment before looking back at him. “We should do this elsewhere...”

“...we caused a lot of trouble didn't we?” Ellie asked, looking up from her sandwich.

“Don't worry about it Ellie, okay? Just, leave all that to us.”

She frowned and went back to nibbling at her sandwich.

 

Maria and Tommy departed after they finished eating, and Bradson went to help some of the other men with the horses, leaving Carter and Ellie alone to wait. There wasn't much anyone could really do right now besides wait, so keeping busy just seemed the logical answer.

Ellie was having no part of it though. She refused to move from that spot till she had news on Joel, no matter which way it went. Carter decided to wait with her, not wanting her to be alone.

“...you two have really been through a lot haven't you? I can tell...by the look on your face.”

At first she didn't say anything, just staring off into space. But after a few moments she let out a long sigh and looked down at her feet.

“We have. Gone though more than anyone will ever know. He saved me, I saved him...a lot of people died...it was hard. But it wasn't all bad either.”

“You just uh...decided to travel with him then?”

“...he was looking after me for someone, trying to get me somewhere. It didn't work out though...and he decided to keep looking after me. He didn't have to but...he did. Not gonna lie, he was kind of an asshole when we first met. Guess I just wore on him enough.”

“Well, people have their own reasons for being the way they are, but if they're still good deep down, well, I guess the right situations will just bring it back out.”

“Yeah...he's been through a lot. I can't say, that's his life after all but...he's been through a lot, and it made things hard for him. But now...I think his main purpose in life is making sure I survive...”

“Well there you go. He's gonna want to make sure of that, so he'll fight. So he can stay there for you.”

“I hope you're right. How good is the will to live though if the body just isn't willing anymore?”

“Well way I saw it, it wasn't ready to give out either, or he wouldn't have made it as far as he has. I think he has a real good chance.”

She only nodded, turning her attention back to the door.

 

 

Light was failing in the sky before any news finally came. The others had returned in that time and were waiting with Ellie when the door finally opened.

Ellie and Tommy were on their feet instantly while the others looked up, expectant looks on their faces.

The doctor stepped over to them, blood covering the front of his shirt, a few specks on his face and mixed into his slowly graying brown hair. He looked tired, but hopeful.

“Was quite a battle there, I have to admit. I really didn't think it would take as long as it did but, as much as we wanted to jump right in he needed to be stabilized first. His body just wasn't strong enough initially to survive surgery. But we got him stable and got to work as quickly as we could. What appears to have happened is, while the wound itself was clean, it still did quite some damage to the muscle tissue, weakening it. What happened was he turned wrong and with enough force that he tore the muscle in his leg, the muscle that was weakened from the bullet. This in turn tore the wound further enlarging it and causing more damage, worsening it as he forced himself around. How he didn't bleed out...is a damn miracle. But we got it repaired, though I'm not sure his leg will exactly be the same anymore. He'll have a limp here and there for sure, but he'll live. Both his knees will give him hell later on, as we noticed the other took some damage too but...he's alive at least.”

“Can we see him?” Tommy asked.

“Quickly. He won't hear you because he's still out of it but, you can see him. But he needs a lot of rest.”

He and Ellie both nodded, quickly moving passed the doctor and heading down the hall.

“...that is one lucky man.” The doctor mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Lucky, stubborn, and a brute.”

 

 

A few weeks passed before Joel was finally released from the hospital. The whole time he was being as annoying as possible, wanting nothing more than to be out of the place and back to work, despite being told repeatedly that it would be a bad idea.

Ellie had finally been the voice of reason in the end, her choice of colorful words and waving of her index finger silencing him rather quickly. One thing he'd learned over the years, do no make her angry. But it had done the trick, and he reluctantly stayed the entire time needed at the hospital, feeling a sense of relief when he was at last free of the place. One thing that never changed, even in a post pandemic apocalypse, hospitals still smelled too much of chemicals.

He was pretty quiet after returning home though, still restricted from duties for at least a week more yet. So he spent a lot of his time picking away at his guitar, most songs being solemn. Ellie knew he was still blaming himself for everything that had happened back there, taking it all on his own shoulders. She hated seeing him like this but, failed to come up with anything that would even remotely help his mood. She'd even tried some of her old pun books once, but that only garnered a few chuckles from the both of them, especially since she understood a good portion of then now that she was older.

So now this left them with this awkward silence between them. He'd continue to pick away at his guitar while she sat up in her room and wrote, or drew. She found she liked these little hobbies best. She could create her own little worlds far away from the hell they lived in, or imagine a new one where everything was normal again. She never knew normal of course, but she could see from old books and magazines just how it had been. The life they had here wasn't too far off, except with the bandits and infected. She figured it was more like living in one of those old western towns where cowboys still prevailed. After all, a good portion of the people in the settlement had lived in this area since they were kids, they were cowboys and cowgirls. So...maybe that meant the bandit thing was actually in character then?

She chuckled to herself, suddenly imagining Joel in a cowboy hat and spurs, chasing down bandits on a horse and wielding a revolver. The old six shooter ones of course, not the one he seemed to love so much. And now...she suddenly wanted to draw that too.

But her mind once again switched gears as she heard a tune make it's way up the stairs. Joel was once again picking away at his guitar, the tune sounding sad as always. Well, this time she was going to do something about it.

She pushed her chair away from the desk, getting up and making her way out of the house. As she moved along though, she slowly started to recognize the tune and she could hear Joel singing ever so gently now. As if he was still trying to stay quiet and not let anyone hear him but, he was failing at it.

She stopped just behind the front door, listening to Joel sadly sing just outside of it. She knew the tune, as Joel played it a lot, but this was the first time she had actually heard the words and it yanked at her heart ever so much.

 

~I Hurt Myself Today, To See If I Still Feel.

I Focus On The Pain, The Only Thing That's Real.

The Needle Tears A Hole, The Old Familiar Sting.

Try To Kill It All Away, But I Remember Everything.~

 

She gently pressed her forehead against the door, wanting to go out and put an end to the song but, at the same time not wanting to disturb him.

 

~What Have I Become? My Sweetest Friend.

Everyone I Know Goes Away, In The End.

And You Could Have It All, My Empire Of Dirt.

I Will Let You Down, I Will Make You Hurt.~

 

She couldn't move, she felt like she was glued to the spot. She had always wanted him to sing to her but, she really didn't want it to be this song. It's like, she could hear all the pain he still had just pouring out in it. And she was realizing just how much this song fit his life. If anyone could have a theme song, she was sure this would be his, and she wasn't sure she liked that.

 

~I Wear This Crown Of Thorns, Upon My Liars Chair.

Full Of Broken Thoughts, I Cannot Repair.

Beneath The Stains Of Time, The Feelings Disappear.

You Are Someone Else, I Am Still Right Here.~

 

He continued on until he finally reached the end, his voice sounding like it had about had it with this song as much as she had.

 

~If I Could Start Again, A Million Miles Away.

I Would Keep Myself, I would Find...A Way...~

 

Finally she settled her hand on the door knob and turned it, stepping out onto the porch. Joel quickly turned his head to look at her, the look he wore proving he knew he had been caught.

“...hey kiddo.”

She said nothing, just walked over to where he was seated on the wooden bench, his leg propped up on and old pail.

“...woulda liked to hear a different song than that...the first time I heard you sing.”

“You weren't supposed to hear it at all.”

“Well I did. So now what?”

“There is no now what.” He responded as he moved to set the guitar down, but Ellie took hold of it before he could.

“I know you still aren't one for talking Joel, but, I figured by now we could be more open with each other.”

“You don't really need to be worrying about my life Ellie.”

“Yes, I do. When you made me a part of it, that gave me the right to know about it. So no more holding this shit in old man.”

He quieted for a moment, looking at her as she was very clearly challenging him. Finally he let out a deep sigh and leaned back, crossing his arms. He very much looked like a child finally resigned to their fate.

“It's hard not to feel responsible for everything that happened. Would you have run off like this if I had told you right away?”

“Joel, when haven't I run off? Don't think it would have made much of a difference. Only thing here is, whereas I always plan to return...I got myself caught this time...”

“But I still caused it.”

“You were a man who learned that the person he had grown to care for had to die for everyone else to live. And a kid no less. What the fuck else could have I expected to happen? I knew you quite well by that time Joel, it doesn't surprise me that you carved your way, literally, to me.”

“...and Marlene?”

Ellie was quiet for a moment as she thought that one over.

“...she...she wasn't there. Sure, she made sure she found some place for me where I'd be safe, and sure she couldn't take care of me herself since she was a Firefly. But she still wasn't there. And she kept me in those damn military schools. Only good that came from all that was me learning medical stuff...and meeting Riley...”

“...but she still kept you safe. As shit as it was to be in those places, it taught you how to survive. And Marlene...well, she was your moms friend right? I just thought...”

“...she was my last connection to mom. Yeah, I know. But I never even knew my mom. And as much as I would have liked to...it can't happen. And Marlene being her friend...didn't really mean much. I mean, I miss her, yes. But she bounced me from one place to another. You...you hated carting me around...especially after Tess died. I know you blamed me for that. But you...you could have just left me somewhere. You could have just up and left me in the middle of the night, but you didn't. For the longest time I thought it was just because Tess asked you to but...”

“I'm an asshole Ellie. And I was a hundred times worse back then but...I couldn't leave a kid to die like that. And you're right, I was angry with you for Tess' death but...it was misplaced anger. Neither of us had to accept Marlene's offer, but we did. Whatever came of it, we were accepting.”

“...” She ran her thumb over a few of the strings on the guitar, a high to low vibration coming from each. “It really feels good...to hear you actually wanted to be there. That you wouldn't have left me to die.”

“Not letting anymore little girls die. Course, you ain't so little anymore. You're gonna be looking after me one day kiddo, heh.”

“One day. But for now, you still got a life to live, you just gotta be more careful with it.”

“...I'll do my best.”

She didn't answer him, again just strumming at the guitar.

“...you uh...called me dad back there...”

“...I did.”

“I didn't think I deserved that.”

“You deserved it more than anyone I know. I mean, yeah you did some shitty things out there but, your reasons for them is what matters. We did it to live. And to keep each other alive...fuck whatever you did before I knew you. Who you are now is what matters.”

“That took away your redemption though. I know you felt you could pay back everything you did by handing your life over.” He looked squarely at her now. “I assumed when we got to Salt Lake that you were till feeling everything that happened over the winter, but that wasn't the whole thing. Somewhere inside...you knew you had to die didn't you?”

“...it's on my brain Joel...what other end was there?”

“...” He scowled, running a hand over his beard before pushing himself up, carefully swinging his leg off the pail and moving to the railing.

Ellie watched his every move, seeing anxiety growing in him. She knew what he was thinking. A fourteen year old should never have to accept knowing they have to die for people they don't even know. But to her...at least she was dying doing something good, saving people that probably deserved this life more than she did. She would have either ended up wandering somewhere in one of the many districts of the QZ or in the military, shooting people who only did what they did to survive. What kind of life was that?

She was doing something this way...and it also meant Riley's death wasn't for nothing either. It was a shitty situation but, she would never have known she was immune if it hadn't happened. She had to put that knowledge to good use.

Joel would never have any of that though, and frankly she wasn't sure how she felt about it anymore either. She was torn between finishing what she started, and living.

Joel finally turned and looked back at her, leaning heavily against the porch railing.

“You're alive Ellie, that's what matters.” He hushed his voice a bit more at this point, careful of anyone who might be passing by. “And as long as you're alive, the cure is too. We don't have to stop looking, there could be a way to do this without you having to die...if we find the right people...”

“...it's a big world Joel, people are scattered everywhere. And look what equipment the Fireflies had, and even they had trouble.”

“They're out there, we can find them. People who know more about fungus...biologists who studied the original Cordyceps maybe.”

“Original one?”

“Guess they only taught you what they needed to huh? It use to only be in insects primarily. Too small to do any harm to us.”

“But then it hit the plants right?”

“Something like that. Still don't quite understand. Didn't pay much attention to it...till it was too late...”

“...do you really think we can find someone?”

“Someone has to know. And if they do, maybe they can figure out how to safely get a sample from you.”

“...worth a shot I guess. One day.”

“Yeah, not sure I'm going anywhere for a long while.”

Ellie finally let a small smile slip, glad that maybe she could still put an end to this and still live at the same time.

“For now, let's just live. After what we just went through...not sure I'm ready to travel again quite yet.” Ellie agreed quietly.

“Reckon I can agree with you there.”

She ran her fingers over the strings again, playing a few chords.

“Maybe I'll take the lead on the next one though, hey...dad?”

“...heh. We'll see how it goes kiddo.”

“Good enough for me I guess.”

She started to play a song, humming a bit with the tune. The day would indeed come, it's just if she could see now how it would be then...she might of choose not to go ahead at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is, all said and done. As done as it can be anyway. Have no doubt this might have a continuation someday. We'll have to see about that one though.
> 
> And no, I have little medical logic so, what happened with Joel's leg was something I could envision happening. Not really sure it could happen that way cause like I said, I have very little medical knowledge. Just throwing that out there.
> 
> Also, this story evolved over an amount of time where both the LOU2 teaser dropped, and of course the Logan trailer dropped. So the story changed a bit because of the LOU2 announcement, as well as the decision to use the song at the end, having heard it in the Logan trailer. I felt it really did sound a lot like Joel's life. The version of course that Joel's sings being Johnny Cash's version, keeping to that tone and all.
> 
> And mentioning Hurt, song credited to Johnny Cash and Nine Inch Nails.

**Author's Note:**

> I've written something again? Holy Moley, as Ellie would say.
> 
> But no, I've learned a lesson to try to complete, or almost completely complete, a work before starting to post, just in case I lose interest or life takes center stage. So my relative absence hasn't been me giving up or anything, just trying to get stories worked on so you can read them to full completion. There's also at least one I need to get back to...which may involve me needing to re-read all that I have because I don't remember what I'm doing in it. 
> 
> But anyway, here's some new stuff for you all, hope you enjoy.


End file.
